Algert Global LLC Grows Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 89.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,374 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC owned 0.21% of MarketAxess worth $13,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MKTX. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 66.6% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,681,000 after acquiring an additional 891,303 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,948,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,549,000 after purchasing an additional 119,036 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,532,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $342,312,000 after purchasing an additional 67,290 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,460,000 after purchasing an additional 6,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 951,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,727,000 after purchasing an additional 192,626 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MKTX. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Argus cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.40.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.8%

MarketAxess stock opened at $180.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.93. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.17 and a 12 month high of $232.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The firm had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

MarketAxess Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.