Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $263.00 to $283.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MKTX has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on MarketAxess from $220.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on 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 raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.78.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $230.97 on Thursday. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $216.59 and a 200 day moving average of $228.05. The firm has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $208.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.87%.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 49.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.