MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $115.75 and last traded at $115.7720, with a volume of 296600 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $120.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus downgraded MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $190.88.

MarketAxess Trading Down 2.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $153.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.44.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.The company had revenue of $233.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 151.0% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 8.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in MarketAxess by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in MarketAxess by 200.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth approximately $406,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Company Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.