MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $267.50.

MKTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $263.80 on Tuesday. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $273.23 and a 200 day moving average of $238.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.05.

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

MarketAxess declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in MarketAxess by 2,889.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,032,000 after acquiring an additional 327,913 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $501,907,000 after purchasing an additional 291,134 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 53.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 120.6% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 393,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,823,000 after purchasing an additional 214,928 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in 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 worth $266,881,000 after purchasing an additional 204,960 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

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.