Northern Trust Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 17.9%, now owning approximately 0.82% of the company with a value of about $65.8 million.
• MarketAxess reported earnings of $2.00 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue increasing by 11.0% year-over-year to $219.46 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, which represents an annual yield of 1.6% based on its current payout ratio.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 304,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 66,519 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.82% of MarketAxess worth $65,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake 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 buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its stake in MarketAxess by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in MarketAxess by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in MarketAxess by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 446 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MKTX. Argus upgraded MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $228.09.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $190.15 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $208.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.33. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.99 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $218.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. MarketAxess's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is presently 51.18%.

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.

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