MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Given New $225.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $222.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential downside of 3.59% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on MKTX. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $240.50.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX traded down $1.20 on Wednesday, hitting $233.38. 76,796 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 423,996. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $207.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total value of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $995,272,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 30.3% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,878,000 after purchasing an additional 564,820 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 10.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,828,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,580,000 after purchasing an additional 170,095 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,122,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,742,000 after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 40.0% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,134,000 after purchasing an additional 204,660 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.