Wasatch Advisors LP Buys 204,660 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 40.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 204,660 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 1.91% of MarketAxess worth $157,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norris Perne & French LLP MI raised its stake in MarketAxess by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 34,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth about $68,000. Bangor Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth about $1,486,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock traded up $0.41 on Tuesday, hitting $193.80. The stock had a trading volume of 324,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,730. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.29 and a 200 day moving average of $225.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The company had revenue of $210.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.47%.

Insider Activity

In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total value of $99,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $236.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.73.

MarketAxess Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an electronic trading platform for institutional investor and broker-dealer companies worldwide. The company offers trading technology that provides liquidity access in U.S. high-grade bonds, U.S. high-yield bonds, emerging market debt, eurobonds, municipal bonds, U.S.