MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.08 EPS

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The company’s revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $274.41. 407,932 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 408,917. The firm has a market cap of $10.36 billion, a PE ratio of 39.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91. MarketAxess has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.51.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $263.40.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board 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.