Short Interest in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Decreases By 13.5%

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a decrease of 13.5% from the February 28th total of 1,560,000 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $3.67 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 82,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 646,155. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. As a group, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.78.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 173.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,734,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $433,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.