MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Price Target Cut to $225.00 by Analysts at Barclays

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $256.00 to $225.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.33.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX opened at $201.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $227.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $246.99.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. On average, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 40.72%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,212.14. This represents 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 90 days. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the third quarter worth about $261,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in MarketAxess by 6.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 7,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 128.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 39.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 555.6% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.