MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 461.7% in Q4, adding 10,993 shares to hold 13,374 shares worth $2.424 million.
• MarketAxess missed Q4 estimates, reporting EPS of $1.68 versus $1.72 expected and revenue of $209.41M versus $214.06M, though revenue was up 3.5% year-over-year and net margin remained ~29.1%.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.78 ( $3.12 annualized, ~1.9% yield), while analysts have trimmed price targets and the consensus rating is a Hold with an average target of $201.11.

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 461.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,993 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 200.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth $38,000. Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $164.96 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $176.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.01. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $232.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.80.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. MarketAxess's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MKTX. Argus lowered MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings raised MarketAxess from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $201.11.

MarketAxess Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company's network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.

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