MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Shares Purchased by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 276.5% in Q2, owning 5,629 shares worth approximately $1,257,000.
• MarketAxess reported $2.00 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 11.0%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, providing an annualized yield of 1.7%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 51.18%.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 276.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,134 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 57.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded down $1.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $178.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,702,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 658,671. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.84 and a twelve month high of $296.68. The business's fifty day moving average price is $194.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.83. The firm has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.88.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 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 firm had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 price target (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Argus raised shares of MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $228.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 owned 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.