MUFG Securities EMEA plc Acquires Shares of 7,530 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 7,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 111.6% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $123.18 on Wednesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.51 and a 12-month high of $228.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $156.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.51.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 35.53% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The company had revenue of $233.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 36.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MKTX. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $190.88.

MarketAxess Company 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.