Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. Grows Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. has increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 64.8%, owning approximately 402,511 shares worth $87.08 million.
• MarketAxess reported earnings of $2.00 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting an 11.0% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.6%, scheduled for payment on September 3rd.

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 64.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 402,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 158,240 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 1.08% of MarketAxess worth $87,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in MarketAxess by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 price objective (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $229.70.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.7%

MKTX traded up $1.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $188.20. 268,126 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 589,289. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.84. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.99 and a 12-month high of $296.68. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $209.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.45.

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

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.18%.

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.