Analysts Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target at $261.30

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $261.30.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays reduced 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 report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Activity

In other MarketAxess news, 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. The trade was a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in MarketAxess by 555.6% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 160.3% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 380 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $1.19 on Wednesday, reaching $217.82. 531,221 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 448,002. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The company has a 50 day moving average of $242.90 and a 200 day moving average of $246.20.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. MarketAxess's revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.38 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.11%.

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.