MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Rating Lowered to Hold at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded MarketAxess from “moderate buy” to “hold.” The broader analyst consensus is also “Hold,” with 11 Hold, one Buy and one Sell rating and an average price target of $156.10.
• MarketAxess opened at $162.53, with a $5.72 billion market capitalization and shares trading between a 52-week low of $108.75 and high of $195.96.
• The company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, reporting EPS of $1.95 versus the $1.85 estimate and revenue of $218.41 million versus $216.70 million, although revenue declined 0.5% year over year.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MKTX. Bank of America raised shares of MarketAxess from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a "neutral" rating and set a $134.00 target price (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $132.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $168.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $156.10.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $162.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a current ratio of 2.17. The company has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.83. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $108.75 and a 52-week high of $195.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.13.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $218.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.70 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 35.22%.MarketAxess's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 215.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

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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