MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $145.25 and last traded at $146.1050, with a volume of 37972 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $147.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Argus lowered shares of MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $190.88.

MarketAxess Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.92.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a net margin of 35.53% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The firm had revenue of $233.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 36.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Company Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.