MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Argus

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) was downgraded by Argus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on MKTX. Zacks Research raised shares of MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.40.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MKTX opened at $180.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.80. MarketAxess has a one year low of $156.17 and a one year high of $232.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.72.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.