MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Raised to $276.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $270.00 to $276.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.46% from the company’s current price.

MKTX has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $263.40.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $2.83 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $272.04. 86,613 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,350. The company’s 50 day moving average is $269.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.51. The company has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly 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 $1.82 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the first quarter worth $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 174.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at about $752,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at about $882,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 48.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after buying an additional 3,787 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.