Squarepoint Ops LLC Purchases 16,604 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Squarepoint Ops LLC more than doubled its MarketAxess position in the second quarter, purchasing 16,604 additional shares for a total holding of 32,462 shares valued at approximately $3.68 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 99.01%, with Amundi, HSBC, Bank of America and other investors also increasing their stakes or initiating new positions.
• MarketAxess reported quarterly earnings of $1.95 per share, beating estimates, while revenue declined 0.5% year over year. The company paid a $0.78 quarterly dividend, and analysts maintained a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $156.10.

Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 104.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,462 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,604 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.09% of MarketAxess worth $3,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. Amundi lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 803.9% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 258,708 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,682,000 after purchasing an additional 230,087 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,585,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 638.7% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 21,009 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,472,000 after buying an additional 18,165 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 32.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 263,858 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,531,000 after buying an additional 64,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RDST Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter worth approximately $28,045,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $163.00 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $108.75 and a one year high of $195.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $145.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.79.

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

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded MarketAxess from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $132.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $156.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, Director William Frank Jr. Cruger sold 6,164 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.20, for a total transaction of $1,005,964.80. Following the sale, the director owned 4,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $658,185.60. This trade represents a 60.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 6,464 shares of company stock worth $1,050,069 in the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MarketAxess Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates an electronic trading platform for institutional fixed-income markets. Through its technology, investors and dealers can trade corporate bonds, government securities, emerging-market debt and other credit products in an electronic environment designed to improve access, execution and transparency.

The company's offerings include its Open Trading marketplace, which connects a broad network of institutional participants, as well as a range of trading protocols that support different liquidity and execution needs.

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