MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) General Counsel Scott Pintoff Sells 100 Shares of Stock

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.03, for a total value of $11,603.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 11,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,367,529.58. This represents a 0.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Scott Pintoff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 11th, Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of MarketAxess stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.99, for a total value of $14,699.00.
• On Friday, April 10th, Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of MarketAxess stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.96, for a total value of $17,196.00.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $120.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.29 and a 1-year high of $228.16.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $233.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.91 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MKTX. Weiss Ratings cut MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America upgraded MarketAxess from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $134.00 target price (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.10.

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.