Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock Price

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its target price cut by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $251.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.40% from the stock’s previous close.

MKTX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $260.78.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.6 %

MKTX stock traded down $1.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $200.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 235,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,206. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.99. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi lifted its position in MarketAxess by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 205,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,042,000 after purchasing an additional 83,861 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,922,000. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 4,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 15,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,503,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

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.