Analysts Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Target Price at $252.80

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $252.80.

Several analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $239.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MKTX opened at $201.93 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $217.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.61. The firm has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.98. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $200.01 and a 12-month high of $341.92.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total transaction of $442,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 146.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,265,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,422,000 after buying an additional 752,111 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 247.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 868,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,438,000 after acquiring an additional 618,533 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 18.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,928,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,537,253,000 after acquiring an additional 608,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $128,535,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 385.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 545,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,554,000 after purchasing an additional 433,217 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.