MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Receives “Neutral” Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reissued their neutral rating on shares of MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $265.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

MKTX has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $263.40.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $274.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 386,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,815. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $269.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.80. MarketAxess has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.65%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 3.8% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,966,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 901.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,103,000 after acquiring an additional 14,415 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.