Analysts Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Target Price at $257.33

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $254.78.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth about $261,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 6.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 7,690 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 128.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 39.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX stock traded down $2.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $192.91. 1,180,307 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 540,232. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.54, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $222.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.46. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $188.88 and a 12 month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 41.82%.

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.