MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Raised to $167.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised MarketAxess’s price target from $129 to $167 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 1.64% upside from the reported share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: MarketAxess has one Buy rating and 12 Hold ratings, with an average price target of $159.90.
• The company beat quarterly earnings expectations with $1.95 in EPS versus $1.85 expected and revenue of $218.41 million, although revenue declined 0.5% year over year.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $167.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 1.64% from the company's current price.

MKTX has been the subject of several other reports. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $134.00 price target (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group downgraded MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $200.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $175.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $168.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.90.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $164.31 on Friday. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $108.75 and a 12-month high of $195.96. The business's fifty day moving average is $163.07 and its 200 day moving average is $147.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.80.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a net margin of 35.22% and a return on equity of 22.48%. The business had revenue of $218.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. MarketAxess's quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Director William Cruger, Jr. sold 6,164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.20, for a total value of $1,005,964.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,185.60. This trade represents a 60.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,364 shares of company stock valued at $1,038,557. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% during the first quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 7,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 6.3% in the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Argos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 11.6% in the first quarter. Argos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,561 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 444 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities. Its marketplace connects institutional investors, asset managers, broker-dealers and other market participants, enabling them to trade corporate bonds, emerging-market debt, government securities and other credit products electronically.

The company's services include automated trading tools, request-for-quote workflows and its Open Trading marketplace, which brings together liquidity from a broad network of institutional participants.

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