MarketAxess Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:MKTX)

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 20,050 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 16,069% compared to the typical daily volume of 124 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.8% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 4.2% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.9% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 7,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ MKTX traded up $2.66 on Monday, hitting $141.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 787,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 537,583. The firm has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.92. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $137.27 and a 52-week high of $228.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.The firm had revenue of $233.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 36.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MKTX shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Argus cut MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $190.88.

About MarketAxess

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.