MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $209.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 25.01% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MKTX. Barclays boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler set a $180.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $205.91.

MarketAxess Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $167.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a PEG ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $172.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.27. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $156.17 and a 12 month high of $267.87.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% in 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 in 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 in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

About MarketAxess

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.