Analysts Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target at $241.78

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $241.78.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $213.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $223.50. The stock had a trading volume of 307,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,234. The business's 50 day moving average price is $220.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.87. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $186.84 and a 1 year high of $296.68. The company has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth $119,095,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 329.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 618,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $133,904,000 after purchasing an additional 474,776 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,300,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $520,013,000 after buying an additional 341,493 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth about $71,103,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,298,409 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $519,533,000 after buying an additional 236,118 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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.