MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Cut to $240.00 by Analysts at Piper Sandler

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price target reduced by Piper Sandler from $265.00 to $240.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MKTX. UBS Group lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $289.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $276.00 to $255.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $262.10.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX opened at $219.22 on Tuesday. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.70, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $251.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.69.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.38 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.11%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871 in the last three months. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 461.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 57,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,041,000 after acquiring an additional 47,568 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,265,000 after buying an additional 10,361 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 242.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 5,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 3.7% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 10,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,640,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.