MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Raised to $335.00 at UBS Group

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $330.00 to $335.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MKTX has been the subject of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $263.40.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $275.90. The stock had a trading volume of 180,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,866. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $269.85 and its 200 day moving average is $232.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a PEG 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 current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 42.65%.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $995,272,000 after acquiring an additional 13,018 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $531,878,000 after purchasing an additional 564,820 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $366,580,000 after purchasing an additional 170,095 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 18.2% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,330,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,881,000 after purchasing an additional 204,960 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 53.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,447,000 after purchasing an additional 285,665 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.