MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Stock Holdings Lowered by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its position in MarketAxess by 76.2% in Q4 to 39,115 shares (about $7.09M), even as institutional investors collectively still own roughly 99.01% of the stock.
• MarketAxess missed Q4 estimates, reporting $1.68 EPS vs. $1.72 expected and revenue of $209.4M vs. $214.1M, though revenue rose 3.5% year‑over‑year.
• The firm raised its quarterly dividend to $0.78 (annualized $3.12, a 1.8% yield) while analysts trimmed price targets and maintain a consensus "Hold" with an average target of $201.11.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 76.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 125,083 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.11% of MarketAxess worth $7,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $171.03 on Wednesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.17 and a twelve month high of $232.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $176.29 and a 200-day moving average of $173.04. The firm has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.01.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The business had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a positive change from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 46.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $201.11.

About MarketAxess

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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