MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Shares Bought by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 891,303 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 5.97% of MarketAxess worth $388,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $180.51 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.17 and a 52 week high of $232.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.97. 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 50 day moving average of $175.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.04.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.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 prior year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS 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 $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MKTX. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.40.

About MarketAxess

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.