MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Given New $210.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price objective trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $235.00 to $210.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on MKTX. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.78.

MarketAxess Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $196.20 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $296.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $225.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of MarketAxess 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,657,000. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,369,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,472,000 after acquiring an additional 30,180 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 2,176.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,848,000 after acquiring an additional 20,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $743,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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.