Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,948,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 119,036 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 5.24% of MarketAxess worth $339,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth about $53,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $185.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.97. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.17 and a 1-year high of $232.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. 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 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Zacks Research raised shares of MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.