10,362 Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Purchased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio initiated a position in MarketAxess by purchasing 10,362 shares valued at approximately $1.18 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.01% of the company.
• MarketAxess exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.95 in EPS versus the $1.85 consensus estimate and $218.41 million in revenue, although revenue declined 0.5% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, equivalent to a $3.12 annualized payout and a 1.9% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $156.10.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,176,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 151.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in MarketAxess by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $689,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% during the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter valued at $406,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.0%

MKTX opened at $163.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.85. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.75 and a fifty-two week high of $195.96. The firm's fifty day moving average is $143.10 and its 200 day moving average is $149.95. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.83.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $218.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.70 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 35.22%.MarketAxess's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MKTX. Barclays lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $132.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $168.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a "neutral" rating and set a $134.00 price target (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $195.00 to $129.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.10.

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.

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