Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock Price

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Piper Sandler from $265.00 to $240.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price points to a potential upside of 9.29% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MKTX. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $276.00 to $255.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $262.10.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $219.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $296.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.69.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released 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. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The company had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871 over the last ninety days. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 555.6% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 160.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.