MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Consensus "Hold" — Ten brokerages rate MKTX an average Hold (7 holds, 3 buys) with a 12‑month average price target of $201.11; several firms trimmed targets recently while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage with an Outperform and $195 target.
• Q1 results slightly missed estimates — $1.68 EPS vs. $1.72 expected and $209.4M revenue vs. $214.1M, though revenue rose 3.5% year‑over‑year; the stock trades near $155 with a market cap of about $5.45B and a P/E of ~23.3.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $201.1111.

MKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $195.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 151.0% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in MarketAxess by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter worth $406,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $154.89 on Tuesday. MarketAxess has a twelve month low of $151.80 and a twelve month high of $232.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.96 and a 200-day moving average of $172.37. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.92.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.The business had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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