Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires Shares of 115,410 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia purchased 115,410 MarketAxess shares worth approximately $13.1 million, representing about 0.33% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 99.01% of MarketAxess.
• MarketAxess reported quarterly earnings of $1.95 per share, beating estimates of $1.85, while revenue reached $218.41 million but declined 0.5% year over year. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, equivalent to a 1.9% annual yield.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with one Buy, eleven Hold and one Sell rating; the consensus rating is Hold with a $156.10 price target.

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 115,410 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,098,000. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.33% of MarketAxess at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 215.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MKTX opened at $162.46 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $132.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.83. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.75 and a 52 week high of $195.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.85.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 35.22%.The company had revenue of $218.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. MarketAxess's payout ratio is presently 36.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $175.00 to $128.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $132.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $168.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $156.10.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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.

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