167,710 Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Acquired by Castle Hook Partners LP

Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 167,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,967,000. MarketAxess makes up about 0.8% of Castle Hook Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Castle Hook Partners LP owned 0.44% of MarketAxess at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 405.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $261.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $273.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.06.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $267.50.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total transaction of $5,435,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.