MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX – Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $331.36.

Several analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on MarketAxess from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $340.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 11th.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Director Steven L. Begleiter sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.73, for a total value of $348,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,538 shares in the company, valued at $2,977,456.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Steven L. Begleiter sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.73, for a total transaction of $348,730.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,977,456.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.80, for a total value of $89,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 7,156 shares in the company, valued at $2,567,572.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,854 shares of company stock worth $659,844 over the last ninety days. 1.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,230,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $941,305,000 after buying an additional 29,503 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,210,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $714,231,000 after purchasing an additional 23,861 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,071,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,691,000 after purchasing an additional 19,225 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 34.2% in the second quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,961,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,179,000 after purchasing an additional 499,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 0.7% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,868,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,737,000 after buying an additional 13,367 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.4 %

MKTX opened at $389.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.61 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $352.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.61. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $217.44 and a 12-month high of $397.27.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $177.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.92 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 34.84%. MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.78 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 8th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 7th. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.31%.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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MarketAxess Holdings, Inc engages in electronic trading platform that allows investment industry professionals to trade corporate bonds and other types of fixed-income instruments. It operates through the Americas, Europe, and Asia geographical segments. The company was founded by Richard Mitchell Mcvey on April 11, 2000, and is headquartered in New York, NY.