Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys 2,964 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 53.9%, acquiring an additional 2,964 shares, bringing its total holdings to 8,458 shares valued at $1,889,000.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions in MarketAxess, including a massive 25,960.4% increase by GAMMA Investing LLC.
• MarketAxess announced a $0.76 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%, with a payout ratio currently at 51.18%.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 53.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,458 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,964 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 173.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,716 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 54 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 25,960.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,693,000 after buying an additional 182,761 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 93.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 target price (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Argus upgraded MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $226.18.

MarketAxess Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $170.84 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.59 and a 12-month high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $188.51 and a 200-day moving average of $208.13.

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 business had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $218.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.18%.

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.

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