MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives $228.09 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $228.0909.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKTX. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $204.00 price target (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 15th.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $181.59 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.62. The stock has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.88. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $179.10 and a 52-week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 485.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 758,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,195,000 after acquiring an additional 628,954 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $114,593,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 329.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 618,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,904,000 after purchasing an additional 474,776 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in MarketAxess by 119.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,811,000 after purchasing an additional 264,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 25,960.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,693,000 after purchasing an additional 182,761 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.