MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Cut to $240.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its target price reduced by UBS Group from $255.00 to $240.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $204.00 target price (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Argus raised MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.82.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $168.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $185.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.73. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $161.61 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The company has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.89.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.The firm had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.18%.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total value of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,542,642.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 485.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 758,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,195,000 after acquiring an additional 628,954 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at about $114,593,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 329.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 618,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,904,000 after acquiring an additional 474,776 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 119.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,811,000 after acquiring an additional 264,855 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in MarketAxess by 181.2% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 250,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,843,000 after acquiring an additional 161,115 shares during the period. 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.