Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 50,244 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 387% in Q4, purchasing an additional 50,244 shares to hold 63,228 shares valued at about $11.46 million (≈0.17% of the company).
• Analysts have pared price targets and ratings recently; the consensus rating is a Hold with an average price target of $200.40 (3 Buys, 8 Holds, 1 Sell).
• MarketAxess missed Q4 estimates (EPS $1.68 vs. $1.72; revenue $209.41M vs. $214.06M), though revenue was up 3.5% year-over-year, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.78 (annualized $3.12, ~1.9% yield).

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 387.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 63,228 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 50,244 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.17% of MarketAxess worth $11,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 200.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Argus downgraded MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $200.40.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $164.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $175.90 and a 200-day moving average of $174.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.17 and a 1-year high of $232.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.The company had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. MarketAxess's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MKTX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.