MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Trading Up 4.2%

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) shot up 4.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $232.15 and last traded at $230.59. 140,387 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 418,769 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Three investment 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.00.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.57.

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

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.47%.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,878,000 after acquiring an additional 564,820 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth $128,535,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 21.2% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,657,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,508,000 after acquiring an additional 290,347 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 40.0% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,134,000 after purchasing an additional 204,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 7,385.0% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 159,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,733,000 after purchasing an additional 157,448 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by 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.