MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $262.79, but opened at $246.80. MarketAxess shares last traded at $244.97, with a volume of 169,276 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.50.

MarketAxess Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $273.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.00.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.11%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares in the company, valued at $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 200 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.