MarketAxess' (MKTX) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an Outperform rating on MarketAxess with a $195 price target (about a 10.95% upside), while the Street consensus sits at a $201.11 target with 3 Buys and 7 Holds.
• MarketAxess missed the quarter on both EPS and revenue—$1.68 EPS vs. $1.72 expected and $209.41M revenue vs. $214.06M expected—though revenue was up 3.5% year-over-year and the company maintains a strong net margin (29.14%) and ROE (20.88%).
• Shares trade around $175.76 with a market cap of $6.25B and a P/E of 26.39, and ownership is heavily institutional at roughly 99%.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $195.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.95% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $201.11.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $175.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $156.17 and a 52-week high of $232.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The company had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.06 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 655.2% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 13,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 11,886 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in MarketAxess by 66.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $388,681,000 after buying an additional 891,303 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 535.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 108,481 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,228,000 after buying an additional 91,419 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 163.1% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,280,000 after acquiring an additional 7,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,361,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.