Zacks Research Boosts Earnings Estimates for MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for MarketAxess in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, November 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $7.33 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $7.01. The consensus estimate for MarketAxess' current full-year earnings is $7.33 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for MarketAxess' Q4 2024 earnings at $1.79 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.09 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.01 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.01 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.14 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.22 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.20 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.97 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $267.50.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $258.89. The stock had a trading volume of 131,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,739. The firm has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.71, a PEG ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $273.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.21. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. MarketAxess's quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

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

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $531,878,000 after buying an additional 564,820 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 2,889.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,261 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $68,032,000 after purchasing an additional 327,913 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 17.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $501,907,000 after acquiring an additional 291,134 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 53.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $164,447,000 after acquiring an additional 285,665 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 120.6% during the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 393,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,823,000 after acquiring an additional 214,928 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

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.