Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys New Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc., buying 2,511 shares valued at approximately $543,000.
• MarketAxess reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.00, exceeding analyst expectations, with revenue increasing 11.0% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.6%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in MarketAxess by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $339,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at about $244,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1,262.1% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 43,710 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,880,000 after buying an additional 40,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ MKTX traded down $3.82 on Thursday, hitting $179.71. 674,738 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 662,638. The company has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.88. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $178.20 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The business's 50 day moving average price is $194.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.97.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.18%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Argus raised MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 price target (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given 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 an average price target of $228.09.

MarketAxess 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.