MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $113.29 and last traded at $113.46, with a volume of 664482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus lowered MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $134.00 price objective (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.10.

MarketAxess Trading Down 4.0%

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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.28. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.86.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a net margin of 35.53% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The business had revenue of $233.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 444.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,638,000 after purchasing an additional 31,093 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 305.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,449,000 after purchasing an additional 35,056 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 66.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,681,000 after buying an additional 891,303 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 163.1% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 7,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 911,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,804,000 after acquiring an additional 491,358 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MarketAxess

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.