Eventide Asset Management LLC Takes $983,000 Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC has purchased 4,543 shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc., valued at approximately $983,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Several hedge funds, including Clear Creek Financial Management LLC and Victory Capital Management Inc., have also increased their stakes in MarketAxess, resulting in institutional investors owning 99.01% of the stock.
• MarketAxess recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76, representing an annualized dividend of $3.04 and a yield of 1.7%.

Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,543 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $983,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 57.4% during the 1st 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 period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MKTX. Argus raised MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 price target (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Five 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $228.09.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.5%

MarketAxess stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $188.17. The stock had a trading volume of 680,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 599,046. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $178.20 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $200.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.72.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.18%.

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.