MarketAxess’ (MKTX) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $195.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.11.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $175.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $156.17 and a 52-week high of $232.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.06 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 655.2% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 13,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 11,886 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in MarketAxess by 66.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,681,000 after buying an additional 891,303 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 535.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 108,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,228,000 after buying an additional 91,419 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 163.1% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,280,000 after acquiring an additional 7,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,361,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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.