MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 202,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.53% of MarketAxess worth $40,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 174.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 9,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 4,502 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in MarketAxess by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 96,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,253,000 after purchasing an additional 21,041 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,584,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays reduced 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 lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.60.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of MarketAxess stock opened at $235.20 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $214.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.39. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $297.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.82% and a net margin of 33.83%. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.07 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 43.47%.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, 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 transaction of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of MarketAxess 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.