Brokerages Set MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Target Price at $253.30

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $253.30.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. 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 research report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the third quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in MarketAxess by 555.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded down $2.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $287.40. 271,738 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 405,881. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a PE ratio of 41.68, a PEG ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $265.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.11. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The business had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. MarketAxess's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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.