William Blair Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) – William Blair raised their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of MarketAxess in a research note issued to investors on Monday, September 9th. William Blair analyst J. Schmitt now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $1.66 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.63. The consensus estimate for MarketAxess’ current full-year earnings is $7.06 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for MarketAxess’ Q4 2024 earnings at $1.71 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $7.01 EPS.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.60.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $257.13 on Thursday. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $231.29 and its 200-day moving average is $216.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,204,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 4.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 4.3% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 15,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,114,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,066,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.