Point72 Europe London LLP Invests $2.34 Million in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake of 10,800 shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. valued at approximately $2,337,000 during the first quarter.
• MarketAxess reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.00, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.94, with a net margin of 26.62% and revenue up 11.0% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.7%, to be paid on September 3rd to investors of record by August 20th.

Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,337,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth approximately $539,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 96.7% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth about $1,716,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 7.5% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 228,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,513,000 after purchasing an additional 15,921 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX stock traded up $1.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $181.59. 1,103,338 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 682,928. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $179.10 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The firm has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $202.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.62.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $218.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is presently 51.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Argus raised MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $228.09.

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.