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

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.00.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $220.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.24. The company has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.43, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.99 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.82% and a net margin of 33.83%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 174.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 4,284 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 9,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after buying an additional 4,502 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in MarketAxess by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 96,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,253,000 after buying an additional 21,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,584,000 after buying an additional 5,859 shares during the last quarter. 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.