MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $181.40, but opened at $173.95. MarketAxess shares last traded at $175.67, with a volume of 148,958 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.27.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.2%

The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $172.03 and its 200 day moving average is $184.69.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $208.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.59 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 992.9% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.