Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Makes New $458,000 Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired 2,051 shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc., valued at approximately $458,000, marking a new position in the company during the second quarter.
• Recent analyst ratings for MarketAxess indicate a consensus target price of $228.09 with varied ratings from Buy to Hold, reflecting a mixed sentiment among analysts.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, yielding 1.7%, with a payout ratio of 51.18% as of the last reporting period.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at approximately $376,000. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 26.6% in the first quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 60,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,087,000 after buying an additional 12,697 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 210.8% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,764,000 after buying an additional 11,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 13.6% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 24,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,338,000 after buying an additional 2,947 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the sale, the executive owned 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $12,542,642.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at $8,062,180.72. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded down $1.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $178.32. 9,702,710 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 658,671. The business's fifty day moving average is $194.10 and its 200 day moving average is $209.93. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.88.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $218.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MKTX. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 price objective (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Argus upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $228.09.

MarketAxess Profile

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.