MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.74 on September 4th

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 6th, investing.com reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of 0.74 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

MarketAxess has raised its dividend by an average of 6.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 16 years. MarketAxess has a dividend payout ratio of 37.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect MarketAxess to earn $7.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.4%.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $234.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7 EPS for the current year.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.60.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other MarketAxess news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total value of $99,740.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,895.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.