Analysts Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Target Price at $228.09

Key Points

• MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from twelve brokerages, with one sell rating, six hold ratings, and five buy ratings.
• The average one-year price target for MarketAxess among analysts is $228.09, with target prices ranging from $204.00 to $295.00.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend payout of $3.04 with a yield of 1.7%.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $228.0909.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MKTX. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 price target (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays cut their target price on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $178.42. The stock had a trading volume of 891,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,114,338. The company has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $193.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $209.75. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $176.57 and a 52 week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.The firm had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is 51.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total value of $298,544.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at $8,062,180.72. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth $280,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth $376,000. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 26.6% during the first quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 60,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,087,000 after purchasing an additional 12,697 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 210.8% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,764,000 after purchasing an additional 11,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 13.6% during the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 24,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,338,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an electronic trading platform for institutional investor and broker-dealer companies worldwide. The company offers trading technology that provides liquidity access in U.S. high-grade bonds, U.S. high-yield bonds, emerging market debt, eurobonds, municipal bonds, U.S.