MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives $267.50 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $267.50.

A number of analysts recently commented on MKTX shares. Barclays upped their target price on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded down $0.92 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $262.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 113,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,473. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $297.97. The company has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.05. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $273.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.51.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. Analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.11%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.