AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 35,303 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 37.5% in the first quarter, acquiring 35,303 additional shares, bringing its total ownership to 129,508 shares valued at approximately $28 million.
• Analysts' ratings on MarketAxess are mixed; while several firms have lowered price targets, Argus upgraded the stock to a "buy" rating with a target of $212, resulting in an average consensus price of $228.09.
• MarketAxess recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, which is part of an annualized dividend yield of 1.6%, and reported a net income margin of 26.62% in its latest earnings results.

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 37.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 35,303 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.35% of MarketAxess worth $28,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth approximately $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total value of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX traded down $3.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $184.85. 648,627 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 642,647. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.88. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $178.20 and a 52 week high of $296.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.39.

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

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MKTX shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 target price (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.