Primecap Management Co. CA Buys New Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Primecap Management acquired 3.5 million MarketAxess shares worth approximately $397.8 million, representing a 9.96% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 99.01% of the company.
• MarketAxess beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.95 in EPS versus the $1.85 consensus and $218.4 million in revenue, though revenue declined 0.5% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78, or $3.12 annually, yielding about 1.9%. Analysts largely rate the stock “Hold,” with a consensus price target of $156.10.

Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,504,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $397,772,000. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 9.96% of MarketAxess as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first 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 during the period. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in MarketAxess by 215.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $162.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.83. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $133.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.75 and a 1-year high of $195.96.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 35.22%.The company had revenue of $218.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.70 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MKTX shares. UBS Group lowered MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on MarketAxess from $195.00 to $129.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. William Blair cut MarketAxess from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $156.10.

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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