Korea Investment CORP Has $226,000 Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Korea Investment Corp significantly reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 93.3%, selling 14,528 shares and leaving it with only 1,045 shares valued at $226,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in MarketAxess, with American Century Companies Inc. raising its stake by 999.6%, acquiring an additional 202,121 shares.
• MarketAxess declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is set for August 20th.

Korea Investment CORP cut its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 93.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,528 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 49.1% in the 1st 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 period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 57.4% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 173.0% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of MKTX traded down $4.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $183.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 291,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,566. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $182.31 and a one year high of $296.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $206.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.84.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.The company had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued 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 is Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 price target (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Argus upgraded MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $228.09.

About MarketAxess

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.