Natixis Purchases New Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Natixis bought a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $842,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKTX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $128,535,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 21.2% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,657,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,508,000 after acquiring an additional 290,347 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 40.0% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,134,000 after acquiring an additional 204,660 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 7,385.0% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 159,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,733,000 after purchasing an additional 157,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Square Partners LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Square Partners LLC now owns 425,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,567,000 after purchasing an additional 95,135 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $1.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $222.30. 25,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 422,724. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $206.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.24. The stock has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.43, a PEG ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The firm had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. UBS Group cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

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

About MarketAxess

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.