MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Lowered to $208.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price target trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $217.00 to $208.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MKTX. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.70.

MarketAxess Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $189.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $215.01 and a 200 day moving average of $213.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.84. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $182.99 and a 52 week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 51.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 192.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 5,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,746 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 24,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,616,000 after buying an additional 4,447 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,946,000 after buying an additional 1,792 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth $46,079,000. 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.