MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an underperform rating and a $199.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $241.00.

MarketAxess Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $225.63 on Wednesday. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97. The stock has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.26.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The business had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 347.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1,030.8% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the first 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 period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 405.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.