Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 12,567 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings increased its MarketAxess stake by 59.8% in the second quarter, purchasing 12,567 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 33,576 shares valued at approximately $3.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 99.01% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: MarketAxess has a consensus “Hold” rating, with 11 Holds, one Buy and one Sell, and an average price target of $156.10. Several firms recently downgraded the stock or reduced their targets.
• MarketAxess beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $1.95 versus $1.85 estimated and revenue of $218.41 million, while revenue declined 0.5% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.78, representing a 1.9% annualized yield.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 59.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,576 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,567 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.10% of MarketAxess worth $3,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.7% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.0% during the first quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 7,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,368,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in MarketAxess by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 7,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,302,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MKTX shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $134.00 price target (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. William Blair cut shares of MarketAxess from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $200.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $132.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $156.10.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $163.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.83. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.75 and a 1-year high of $195.96. The company's fifty day moving average price is $145.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.85.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $218.41 million for 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.79%.

MarketAxess Company Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates an electronic trading platform for institutional fixed-income markets. Through its technology, investors and dealers can trade corporate bonds, government securities, emerging-market debt and other credit products in an electronic environment designed to improve access, execution and transparency.

The company's offerings include its Open Trading marketplace, which connects a broad network of institutional participants, as well as a range of trading protocols that support different liquidity and execution needs.

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