MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.29% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The business had revenue of $210.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.99 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $1.82 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.07. The stock had a trading volume of 83,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 419,799. The company has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $213.24 and its 200 day moving average is $234.96. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $198.01 and a 12 month high of $303.85.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total transaction of $442,520.00. Following the sale, the executive now owns 70,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $239.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $250.73.

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.