MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Raised to $167.00

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $167.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $132.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $168.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. William Blair downgraded shares of MarketAxess from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $134.00 price objective (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.90.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $164.58 on Friday. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $108.75 and a 12-month high of $195.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $218.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.70 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 35.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 36.79%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, Director William Cruger, Jr. sold 6,164 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.20, for a total value of $1,005,964.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $658,185.60. This represents a 60.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 6,364 shares of company stock valued at $1,038,557 over the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 7,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in MarketAxess by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Argos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Argos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 58.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2.1% during the first quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,740,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities. Its marketplace connects institutional investors, asset managers, broker-dealers and other market participants, enabling them to trade corporate bonds, emerging-market debt, government securities and other credit products electronically.

The company’s services include automated trading tools, request-for-quote workflows and its Open Trading marketplace, which brings together liquidity from a broad network of institutional participants.