MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock Breaks Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Key Points

• MarketAxess shares broke above their 200-day moving average, reaching $164.61 and last trading at $164.49, compared with a 200-day average of $146.91.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock carries a consensus “Hold” rating from MarketBeat, with an average price target of $159.44, despite one Buy rating and a recent price-target increase from Morgan Stanley.
• MarketAxess exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.95 in earnings per share versus a $1.85 estimate and $218.41 million in revenue, although revenue declined 0.5% year over year and an insider recently sold roughly $1.06 million in shares.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $146.91 and traded as high as $164.61. MarketAxess shares last traded at $164.49, with a volume of 846,429 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. William Blair downgraded MarketAxess from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $129.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $200.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $159.44.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The business's 50 day moving average is $163.41 and its 200 day moving average is $146.91. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.80.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $218.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $216.70 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 35.22%. MarketAxess's quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Cruger, Jr. sold 6,164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.20, for a total value of $1,005,964.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $658,185.60. This represents a 60.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,464 shares of company stock worth $1,055,022. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted 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 purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth $49,000. Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at $56,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in MarketAxess by 97.0% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 394 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 58.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 444 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities and related market data services. The company connects institutional investors, broker-dealers and other market participants, enabling them to trade corporate bonds, government bonds, emerging-market debt and other credit products through digital workflows.

Its offerings include electronic request-for-quote trading, all-to-all trading through its Open Trading marketplace, portfolio trading, and tools designed to support pricing, liquidity discovery and trade execution.

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