MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Down 2.7% After Analyst Downgrade

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) traded down 2.7% during trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $213.00. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock. MarketAxess traded as low as $201.16 and last traded at $200.75. 1,069,525 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 124% from the average session volume of 477,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $206.27.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MKTX. William Blair began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MarketAxess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.11.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its position in MarketAxess by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Up 3.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.51.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

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.