Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock Price

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $240.00 to $237.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $241.44.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.1%

MKTX traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $218.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 291,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 499,783. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.08, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $220.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.82. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $186.84 and a 52-week high of $296.68.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 185.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.