Magnetar Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 53.3%, selling 9,355 shares, leaving it with 8,207 shares worth approximately $1.78 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $3.04 and a dividend yield of 1.7%.
• MarketAxess's recent earnings report showed $2.00 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenues up 11% year-over-year.

Magnetar Financial LLC trimmed its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 53.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,355 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in MarketAxess by 49.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 target price (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Argus raised MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Five 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $228.09.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of MKTX stock traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $179.86. 395,710 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 593,893. The stock has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $202.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.62. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $178.20 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

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

MarketAxess Company 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.