Brokerages Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Target Price at $249.73

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $249.73.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,272,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,878,000 after buying an additional 564,820 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in MarketAxess by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,705,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $364,462,000 after buying an additional 33,288 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,657,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,508,000 after acquiring an additional 290,347 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in MarketAxess by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,122,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,742,000 after acquiring an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $193.39 on Friday. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $297.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.53. The company has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The firm had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.47%.

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.