William Blair Increases Earnings Estimates for MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) – Stock analysts at William Blair lifted their FY2025 earnings estimates for MarketAxess in a research report issued on Monday, October 14th. William Blair analyst J. Schmitt now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $8.20 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $7.90. The consensus estimate for MarketAxess’ current full-year earnings is $7.16 per share.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MKTX. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. 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, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.30.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $288.83 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $255.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.78. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The company has a market capitalization of $10.95 billion, a PE ratio of 42.41, a PEG ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 114,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,574,000 after purchasing an additional 26,090 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,526,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,563,000 after purchasing an additional 34,197 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 80.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.