Brokerages Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Target Price at $209.91

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

A number of research analysts recently commented on MKTX shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Argus raised MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total transaction of $276,868.08. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in MarketAxess by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,681,000 after acquiring an additional 891,303 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 485.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 758,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,195,000 after purchasing an additional 628,954 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth $114,593,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 329.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 618,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,904,000 after purchasing an additional 474,776 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in MarketAxess by 469.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 486,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,704,000 after purchasing an additional 400,691 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Up 2.5%

MKTX opened at $174.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.84. MarketAxess has a 1-year low of $156.17 and a 1-year high of $269.01. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.94.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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

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.