Brokerages Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target at $249.73

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $249.73.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Barclays decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $236.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 347.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 155.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its position in MarketAxess by 39.6% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in MarketAxess by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 1,030.8% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $193.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.53. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $297.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $210.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.99 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business 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 was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.47%.

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.