TD Asset Management Inc Decreases Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

TD Asset Management Inc reduced its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 79,356 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc owned 0.26% of MarketAxess worth $16,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 485.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 758,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,195,000 after purchasing an additional 628,954 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth $114,593,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 119.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,811,000 after buying an additional 264,855 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 181.2% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 250,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,843,000 after buying an additional 161,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in MarketAxess by 1,789.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 145,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,396,000 after acquiring an additional 138,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $192.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day moving average is $175.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.94. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.17 and a 52-week high of $232.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 46.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research upgraded MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.40.

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.