MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $254.78.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $195.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess has a twelve month low of $186.84 and a twelve month high of $296.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $242.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 15,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.