Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock Price

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $251.00 to $225.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MKTX. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $254.78.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Friday, hitting $195.27. 396,416 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 512,744. The stock has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $225.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.05. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $191.91 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS 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, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 40.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,088,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth approximately $1,966,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $982,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 22.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,265,000 after acquiring an additional 10,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 461.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 57,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,041,000 after acquiring an additional 47,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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.