MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on MKTX. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an underperform rating and a $199.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $241.00.

MarketAxess Stock Up 2.2 %

MKTX opened at $225.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $206.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.90. MarketAxess has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The company had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.99 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total value of $99,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in MarketAxess by 2,088.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 37,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,124,000 after purchasing an additional 36,248 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. increased its position in MarketAxess by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in MarketAxess by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Norris Perne & French LLP MI purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at $9,715,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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.