MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Stock Holdings Lowered by Cetera Investment Advisers

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers significantly reduced its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 56.7% during the first quarter, owning only 1,445 shares worth $313,000 after selling 1,895 shares.
• The stock's performance showed a marginal increase of 0.1%, with a current price of $186.85, while having a market capitalization of $6.98 billion.
• MarketAxess announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.6%, set to be paid on September 3rd.

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 56.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,445 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,895 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in MarketAxess were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 49.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 57.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 173.0% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock traded up $1.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $188.73. 589,575 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 629,279. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $182.99 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The company has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.84. The company's 50 day moving average price is $208.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.25.

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

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors 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 presently 51.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $229.70.

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.