Barclays Cuts MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target to $225.00

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $236.00 to $225.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

MKTX has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an underperform rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $229.00 to $210.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $249.73.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $1.32 on Wednesday, hitting $202.21. The company had a trading volume of 396,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 423,558. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $213.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.73. The stock has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.98. MarketAxess has a 1-year low of $198.01 and a 1-year high of $303.85.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.29% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm had revenue of $210.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.21%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related 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 transaction of $442,520.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MarketAxess by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,526,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,325,563,000 after purchasing an additional 34,197 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,705,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $364,462,000 after buying an additional 33,288 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,657,960 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $363,508,000 after buying an additional 290,347 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in MarketAxess by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,122,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $328,742,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $157,134,000 after acquiring an additional 204,660 shares during the last quarter. 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.