Analysts Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target at $204.82

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $204.8182.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $209.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $178.55 on Wednesday. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $232.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $170.88 and its 200-day moving average is $185.42. The company has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 26.16%.The business had revenue of $208.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.70%.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.