MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $209.9091.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital set a $164.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Argus raised MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Barclays increased their price target on MarketAxess from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total value of $298,544.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

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

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MKTX opened at $174.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.94. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $156.17 and a 12-month high of $268.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $173.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.37.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $208.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.59 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. Analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 51.70%.

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.