MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Earns Neutral Rating from Piper Sandler

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Piper Sandler in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $265.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 3.59% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $253.30.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX opened at $274.87 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $269.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.91. The company has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its 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. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in MarketAxess by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $995,272,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares during the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 30.3% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,878,000 after buying an additional 564,820 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in MarketAxess by 10.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,828,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,580,000 after acquiring an additional 170,095 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 18.2% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,330,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,881,000 after acquiring an additional 204,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 53.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,447,000 after acquiring an additional 285,665 shares during the last quarter. 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.