MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $262.79, but opened at $246.80. MarketAxess shares last traded at $244.97, with a volume of 169,276 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

MarketAxess Stock Down 6.9 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $273.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.00.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

MarketAxess announced that its board 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 reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 555.6% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 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.