Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc.
MKTX,
sank 5.2% in afternoon trading Wednesday, enough to pace the S&P 500’s
SPX,
decliners, after Raymond James analyst Patrick O’Shaughnessy said second-quarter trading volumes disappointed amid a “lower volatility backdrop.” O’Shaughnessy reiterated the outperform rating he’s had on the stock for at least the past 16 months, but cut his price target to $530 from $580 after volumes finished lower than he had previously projected, “as industry wide volumes and the company’s market share continued to face headwinds in a lower volatility backdrop.” He cut his second-quarter earnings estimate to $1.69 a share from $2.02 and his 2021 EPS outlook to $7.57 from $8.26. The company had reported late Tuesday June trading volume of $567.0 billion, bringing the second-quarter total to $1.56 trillion. That’s down 17.0% from $1.88 trillion in the sequential first quarter, and down 8.3% from $1.70 trillion in the same quarter a year ago. The stock has now shed 21.6% year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has rallied 16.0%.
