MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives $252.80 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the ten brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $252.80.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $239.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX traded down $8.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $204.94. 391,730 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 429,452. The business's 50-day moving average price is $218.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $237.94. MarketAxess has a twelve month low of $200.01 and a twelve month high of $341.92. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.98.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.11. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 34.29%. The firm had revenue of $197.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $196.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This is a positive change from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.21%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total value of $442,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 70,092 shares in the company, valued at $15,508,555.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth approximately $68,000. Bangor Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at $1,486,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 80.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.