MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $216.15, but opened at $227.35. MarketAxess shares last traded at $224.73, with a volume of 101,258 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.44.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.5 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $206.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.56. The stock has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. As a group, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 5.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth $332,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $308,000. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $481,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 327.8% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

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.