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

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $283.00 to $274.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 31.20% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $213.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $240.67.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MKTX traded down $1.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $208.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 367,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 592,740. The firm has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.85. MarketAxess has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $219.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.34.

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

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth approximately $280,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth approximately $376,000. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 60,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,697 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 630,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $142,524,000 after acquiring an additional 15,713 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 24,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

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.