MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) PT Lowered to $185.00 at Bank of America

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price objective decreased by Bank of America from $193.00 to $185.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MKTX. Piper Sandler restated a neutral rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $240.50.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MarketAxess stock opened at $273.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91. The company has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.18, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.08. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $297.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $245.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $221.38.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The business’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

About MarketAxess

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.