MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on MKTX. Barclays raised their target price on MarketAxess from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler set a $180.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.91.

MarketAxess Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $167.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $172.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.27. MarketAxess has a 12-month low of $156.17 and a 12-month high of $267.87.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $208.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.59 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total value of $298,544.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,062,180.72. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total transaction of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.