Zacks Research Forecasts Lower Earnings for MarketAxess

Key Points

• Zacks Research cut its FY2026 EPS forecast for MarketAxess to $7.89 from $7.98; its updates also included a lower FY2028 estimate of $8.66 versus $8.98, partly offset by a modest increase to FY2027.
• MarketAxess reported quarterly EPS of $1.86, missing the $1.95 consensus, and revenue of $210.41 million versus estimates of $218.98 million. Revenue was up 0.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: 12 analysts rate the stock Hold and one rates it Buy, with an average price target of $159.44.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of MarketAxess in a report released on Thursday, November 5th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $7.89 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $7.98. The consensus estimate for MarketAxess' current full-year earnings is $7.98 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for MarketAxess' Q4 2026 earnings at $1.83 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.14 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $2.15 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $2.00 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $8.60 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $2.27 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q3 2028 earnings at $2.10 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $8.66 EPS.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.09). MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.51% and a return on equity of 23.15%. The business had revenue of $210.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded MarketAxess from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $175.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of MarketAxess from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $150.00 to $167.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group lowered shares of MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $132.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.44.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $165.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.83. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $108.75 and a 1 year high of $195.96. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $164.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.31.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 10th. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 38.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William Cruger, Jr. sold 6,164 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.20, for a total value of $1,005,964.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,033 shares in the company, valued at $658,185.60. This represents a 60.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,364 shares of company stock worth $1,038,762. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 1,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 6.3% in the 1st 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in MarketAxess by 58.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 444 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in MarketAxess by 97.0% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 394 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key MarketAxess News

Here are the key news stories impacting MarketAxess this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks raised its FY2027 EPS estimate to $8.60 from $8.56, and nudged estimates higher for Q2 and Q3 2027. These modest increases provide a limited offset to the cuts. MarketAxess analyst estimate updates
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks lowered estimates for several periods, including FY2026 EPS to $7.89 from $7.98 and FY2028 to $8.66 from $8.98. It also cut estimates for Q1–Q3 2028 and select 2026–2027 quarters. The breadth of reductions—and the larger FY2028 cut—could weigh on sentiment by signaling softer earnings expectations, despite the small FY2027 increases. MarketAxess analyst estimate updates

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities. Its marketplace connects institutional investors and broker-dealers, enabling them to trade bonds and other debt instruments through electronic tools such as request-for-quote and open trading protocols.

The platform supports trading across a range of fixed-income markets, including U.S. and European corporate bonds, U.S. Treasuries, municipal bonds, emerging-market debt and other securities. MarketAxess also provides market data and trading analytics to help clients assess prices and make trading decisions.

Founded in 2000, MarketAxess serves clients in North America, Europe and Asia.

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