MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Raised to $265.00

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its target price increased by Citigroup from $250.00 to $265.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $241.78.

MarketAxess Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $230.97 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $216.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $228.05. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $186.84 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The company had revenue of $208.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 52.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Allianz SE purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during 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.