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

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $200.40.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $176.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $175.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $156.17 and a 12 month high of $232.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.MarketAxess’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 45.65%.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 393.0% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 98,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,948,000 after purchasing an additional 78,336 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 16.4% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 19,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,334,000 after buying an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 190.6% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 3,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 238.1% during the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 2,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $866,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.