Federated Hermes Inc. Has $118,000 Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 90.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,370 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $995,272,000 after acquiring an additional 13,018 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd increased its position in MarketAxess by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,878,000 after buying an additional 564,820 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 10.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,828,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,580,000 after acquiring an additional 170,095 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 40.0% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,134,000 after acquiring an additional 204,660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in MarketAxess by 4.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 443,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,978,000 after acquiring an additional 17,996 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of MKTX opened at $254.38 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $239.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.42.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The business had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.60.

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.