The Goldman Sachs Group Increases MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target to $233.00

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $204.00 to $233.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 8.93% from the stock’s current price.

MKTX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.40.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock opened at $255.85 on Monday. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of 37.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $241.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.11. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 2.9% during the second quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

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.