Prospector Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Prospector Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 37,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,615,000. Prospector Partners LLC owned approximately 0.10% of MarketAxess as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 4.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,532,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $342,312,000 after purchasing an additional 67,290 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,141,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,460,000 after acquiring an additional 6,448 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 485.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 758,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $167,195,000 after acquiring an additional 628,954 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at about $114,593,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 119.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,811,000 after purchasing an additional 264,855 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Argus reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.40.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $176.12 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.17 and a 12-month high of $232.84. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $175.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.53.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The company had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.65%.

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.