MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Purchased by Wasatch Advisors LP

Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 40.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 204,660 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $157,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in MarketAxess by 347.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded up $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 324,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,730. The firm has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $203.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.93.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.99 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $236.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $249.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.