The Goldman Sachs Group Increases MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target to $233.00

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $204.00 to $233.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the financial services provider's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective points to a potential downside of 9.17% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MKTX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $239.40.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock traded up $1.67 on Monday, hitting $256.51. The company had a trading volume of 323,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 414,679. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.91. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a PE ratio of 37.42, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.83. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. MarketAxess's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other MarketAxess news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess during the first quarter worth $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 174.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 4,284 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 84.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 9,861 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 4,502 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,584,000 after acquiring an additional 5,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,526,422 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,325,563,000 after buying an additional 34,197 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.