MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Given New $305.00 Price Target at UBS Group

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at UBS Group from $330.00 to $305.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 50.76% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $255.00 to $251.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $263.67.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded up $1.00 on Friday, reaching $202.31. 112,308 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 487,302. The firm has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $227.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.99. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results 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 research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,183,871 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $261,000. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 7,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 128.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 200 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.