MKTX vs VIRT Stock Comparison

Marketaxess Holdings and Virtu Financial Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MKTX Marketaxess Holdings Inc
$165.02 +0.5% 1M -3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$5.80B
P/E
19.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$871.61M
Div. yield
–
Exchanges Financial Services
2 wins
VIRT Virtu Financial, Inc.
$55.92 +4.7% 1M +66.7% 1Y
Market cap
$4.86B
P/E
8.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.08B
Div. yield
–
Institutional Trading Financial Services
6 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Virtu Financial leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Virtu Financial 6, Marketaxess Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMKTXVIRTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.80B $4.86B MKTX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.9x 8.8x VIRT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.2x 8.1x VIRT
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.9% +20.8% VIRT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 13.5% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 39.4% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 0.6x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -3.2% +66.7% VIRT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -16.4%/yr +16.7%/yr VIRT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.5% 37.4% MKTX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 63/100 VIRT

Percentile Scorecard

MKTXVIRT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisMKTXVIRT
Valuation 30 #68 of 97 91 #10 of 97
Growth 21 #54 of 68 55 #31 of 68
Profitability 88 #9 of 67 77 #16 of 67
Financial Health – 32 #66 of 97
Shareholder Returns 51 #20 of 40 59 #17 of 40
Overall 48 63
  • MKTX ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets
  • VIRT ranked among 112 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodMKTXVIRTSPY
1 month +0.5%+4.7% -0.8%
3 months +39.9%-5.0% +3.5%
6 months +3.1%+17.4% +7.0%
Year to date -9.0%+67.8% +12.2%
1 year -3.2%+66.7% +13.0%
3 years -19.9%+205.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year -7.1%+45.2% +23.1%
5 years -59.1%+116.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year -16.4%+16.7% +11.0%
10 years +7.8%+317.3% +258.0%
10 years, per year +0.7%+15.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureMKTXVIRTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.5%37.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 28.1%35.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.160.44 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.091.78 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -73.7%-57.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.8%-17.7% -1.8%
52-week high $193.61$67.93 $779.14
52-week low $109.09$32.53 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleMKTXVIRT
P/E now vs peer median 19.9xmedian 29.4x 8.9xmedian 29.4x
P/S now vs peer median 6.7xmedian 2.9x 2.1xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 13.7x 4.4xmedian 13.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 29.7xmedian 16.0x 16.6xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.3x 3.7xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 2.50median 0.52 0.15median 0.52

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsMKTXVIRT
Revenue $871.61M $4.08B
Operating income $341.21M –
Net income – $1.06B
Free cash flow – $521.11M
EPS (diluted) $8.29 $6.29
Cash & equivalents $381.05M $1.07B
Total debt – $2.38B
Shares (diluted) 35.24M 87.60M
Enterprise value $5.80B $1.04B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricMKTXVIRT
P/E 19.9x 8.9x
P/FCF 29.7x 16.6x
P/Operating cash flow – 15.6x
P/S 6.7x 2.1x
P/B 4.6x 3.7x
P/Tangible book 4.9x 4.0x
EV/EBITDA – 4.4x
EV/EBIT – 4.6x
EV/Revenue 6.7x 2.4x
EV/FCF – 19.2x
EV/Operating cash flow – 17.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.50 0.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMKTXVIRT
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.9% 20.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 23.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -1.3% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.6% –
Net income growth (1Y) – 36.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 60.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 40.2% 32.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 61.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -4.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -3.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -7.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -3.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMKTXVIRT
Gross margin – –
EBITDA margin – 55.7%
Operating margin – –
Pretax margin – 31.3%
Net margin – 13.5%
FCF margin – 12.8%
Operating cash flow margin – 13.7%
Return on equity 23.3% 46.9%
Return on assets 12.5% 4.0%
Return on invested capital – 39.4%
Return on capital employed – –
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 0.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 3.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMKTXVIRT
Debt / assets – 8.7%
Debt / equity – 1.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 0.6x
Debt / FCF – 4.6x
Liabilities / assets 43.3% 91.5%
Equity / assets 56.0% 8.5%
Interest coverage – 2.5x
Current ratio – –
Quick ratio – –
Cash ratio – –
Altman Z-score – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMKTXVIRT
Dividend yield 1.9% 1.7%
Net buyback yield – 1.0%
Shareholder yield 1.9% 2.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusMKTXVIRT
Forward P/E 20.2xFY2026 8.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.17FY2026 $6.89FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.6%FY2026 +20.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.0% +7.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $944.60MFY2026 $2.93BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.7%FY2026 +36.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.0% +4.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMKTXVIRT
Held by institutions 100.0% 52.9%
Institutions holding 394 472
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.3% +6.7%
Institutions buying 189 282
Institutions selling 164 142
Buyers to sellers 1.15 1.99

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

MKTXVIRT
MKTX 1.00 0.16
VIRT 0.16 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MKTX and VIRT?

Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) $5.80B, Virtu Financial (VIRT) $4.86B.

Which stock is cheaper, MKTX and VIRT?

Virtu Financial (VIRT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 19.9x, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 8.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Virtu Financial (VIRT) is cheapest (Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 20.2x, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 8.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Virtu Financial (VIRT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) +3.9%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) +20.8%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Virtu Financial (VIRT) returned the most: Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) -3.2%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) +66.7%. Over five years, Virtu Financial (VIRT) compounded fastest (Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) -16.4%/yr, Virtu Financial (VIRT) +16.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) has been the steadiest (Marketaxess Holdings (MKTX) 36.5%, Virtu Financial (VIRT) 37.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do MKTX and VIRT move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.16, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, MKTX and VIRT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Virtu Financial (VIRT) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.