MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Given New $285.00 Price Target at UBS Group

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price target decreased by UBS Group from $305.00 to $285.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MKTX has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an underperform rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $249.73.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $202.21 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $213.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.73. MarketAxess has a one year low of $198.01 and a one year high of $303.85. The company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.52, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.98.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $210.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.99 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 34.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 43.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total value of $442,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 19.8% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 418,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,324,000 after purchasing an additional 69,165 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in MarketAxess by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,088,000 after buying an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 6,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 18.0% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.