MarketAxess’ (MKTX) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $265.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on MKTX. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $263.40.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $274.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 3.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $270.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.48. The company has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a PEG ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 174.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 4,284 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth $752,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About MarketAxess

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.