MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 13 research firms, with one sell, seven hold, and five buy ratings.
• The average 12-month price target for MarketAxess stock is approximately $216.58, reflecting recent adjustments by firms like Morgan Stanley and UBS Group.
• MarketAxess reported $2.00 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and marking an 11% increase in year-over-year revenue.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $216.5833.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price objective on MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $180.00 price objective on MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $171.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 0.89. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $161.61 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The stock's fifty day moving average is $181.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.72.

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

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 248 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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