Davis Asset Management L.P. Invests $56.74 Million in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Davis Asset Management acquired 500,000 MarketAxess shares worth approximately $56.7 million, giving it a 1.42% stake and making MKTX its 23rd-largest holding. Institutional investors collectively own 99.01% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: MarketAxess has a consensus “Hold” rating from 13 analysts, with an average price target of $156.10, despite some recent target increases and a Buy rating from Benchmark.
• MarketAxess beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.95 in EPS and $218.41 million in revenue, while revenue declined 0.5% year over year. The company also declared a $0.78 quarterly dividend, representing a 1.9% annualized yield.

Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 500,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $56,745,000. MarketAxess comprises 1.4% of Davis Asset Management L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Davis Asset Management L.P. owned about 1.42% of MarketAxess as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MKTX. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 803.9% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 258,708 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,682,000 after purchasing an additional 230,087 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 638.7% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 21,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,472,000 after purchasing an additional 18,165 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in MarketAxess by 32.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 263,858 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,531,000 after purchasing an additional 64,627 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its position in MarketAxess by 523.8% during the 1st quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 104,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $17,187,000 after purchasing an additional 87,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 86.7% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,612 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,060,000 after buying an additional 11,429 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MKTX. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $195.00 to $129.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America raised shares of MarketAxess from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $168.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $156.10.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $162.11 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $132.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.83. 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 Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $108.75 and a one year high of $195.96.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $218.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.70 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 35.22% and a return on equity of 22.48%. MarketAxess's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

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

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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