Element Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by purchasing 12,697 shares valued at approximately $2.75 million during the first quarter.
• MarketAxess recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.00, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76, with an annualized yield of 1.6%.
• Analysts have mixed views on MarketAxess, with target price adjustments; UBS downgraded its target from $295 to $255 while Wall Street Zen upgraded its rating from "sell" to "hold".

Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,747,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth about $362,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 109.5% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $546,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,094 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,184,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth about $26,786,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,790 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $2.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $189.12. The company had a trading volume of 605,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 591,200. The firm's fifty day moving average is $210.27 and its 200 day moving average is $211.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.84. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $182.99 and a twelve month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. 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 raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 target price (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.