MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $151.80 and last traded at $154.89, with a volume of 373243 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $152.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MKTX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.11.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $173.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.37. 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 (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The company had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other 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.