MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $252.11.

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MarketAxess Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $11.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $221.81. 1,218,949 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 485,332. The company has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $204.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.29. MarketAxess has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. Equities analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $119,095,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,300,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $520,013,000 after purchasing an additional 341,493 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $71,103,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,000,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $452,246,000 after buying an additional 236,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,298,409 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $519,533,000 after buying an additional 236,118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.