Scientech Research LLC Raises Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Scientech Research LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 212.5%, acquiring an additional 1,904 shares to own a total of 2,800 shares, valued at approximately $606,000.
• MarketAxess reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.00, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.94, with revenues reaching $219.46 million, reflecting an 11.0% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 1.6%, with a payout ratio of 51.18%.

Scientech Research LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 212.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,904 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 329.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 618,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $133,904,000 after acquiring an additional 474,776 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 999.6% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 222,342 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,104,000 after acquiring an additional 202,121 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 25,960.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,693,000 after acquiring an additional 182,761 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 64.8% during the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 402,511 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $87,083,000 after acquiring an additional 158,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 285.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 186,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,364,000 after purchasing an additional 138,191 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 price objective (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Argus raised shares of MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $228.09.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.9%

MarketAxess stock traded down $3.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $184.85. The stock had a trading volume of 648,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 640,729. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $178.20 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $197.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.52. The stock has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.88.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued 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. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 51.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company's stock.

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.