Amundi Trims Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 32.9% during the first quarter, after selling 67,490 shares, leaving them with 137,620 shares valued at approximately $29.7 million.
• MarketAxess reported earnings of $2.00 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a 26.62% net margin and a 11.0% increase in quarterly revenue compared to last year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, reflecting a 1.6% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 51.18%.

Amundi decreased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 67,490 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.37% of MarketAxess worth $29,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in MarketAxess by 49.1% during the first 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 in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 173.0% during the first 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 price objective (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $228.09.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock traded up $3.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $188.00. 464,389 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 599,453. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $199.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 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.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total value of $298,544.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 43,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,062,180.72. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.