AIA Group Ltd Sells 7,800 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings by 40.4%, now holding 11,496 shares valued at approximately $2.49 million.
• MarketAxess recently reported an EPS of $2.00 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenues increasing by 11% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, reflecting a 1.6% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 51.18%.

AIA Group Ltd reduced its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 40.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,496 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,800 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at $280,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth $376,000. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 26.6% during the first quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 60,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,087,000 after purchasing an additional 12,697 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 210.8% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,764,000 after purchasing an additional 11,801 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 13.6% during the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 24,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,338,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MKTX. Barclays decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $229.70.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of MarketAxess stock traded up $2.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $190.04. The stock had a trading volume of 686,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 568,961. The company has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $212.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.32. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $182.99 and a 52 week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 51.18%.

MarketAxess Company 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.