MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Rating Increased to Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. Argus currently has $212.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $204.00 price objective (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.09.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $187.51 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $206.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.02. The company has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.84. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $182.99 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.MarketAxess’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at $280,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at $376,000. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 26.6% in the first quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 60,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,697 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 210.8% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,764,000 after acquiring an additional 11,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 13.6% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 24,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares during the last quarter. 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.