MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

by · The Markets Daily

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX – Get Free Report)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $165.06, but opened at $174.09. MarketAxess shares last traded at $173.62, with a volume of 286,840 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Loop Capital set a $164.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Piper Sandler set a $180.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Argus raised MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $205.91.

Get Our Latest Research Report on MarketAxess

MarketAxess Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.82.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 26.16%.The business had revenue of $208.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $12,542,642.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 992.9% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Recommended Stories