Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 2.5%, now owning approximately 372,468 shares valued at $80.58 million.
• MarketAxess reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.00, exceeding estimates, with a revenue increase of 11% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, which represents an annual yield of 1.6% with a payout ratio of 51.18%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 372,468 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,244 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.00% of MarketAxess worth $80,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the first quarter worth about $346,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 73.0% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 87,634 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,960,000 after acquiring an additional 36,993 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 28.8% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 20.6% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 18,687 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,043,000 after acquiring an additional 3,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its stake in MarketAxess by 32.0% during the first quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 4,903 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX traded down $2.03 on Monday, reaching $188.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 91,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,383. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.84. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $212.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.23. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.99 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $229.70.

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.