MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives $267.50 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $267.50.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $261.71 on Tuesday. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $273.41 and a 200-day moving average of $239.06.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.11%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. The trade was a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. 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.