MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Shares Acquired by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 1.1%, acquiring an additional 24,606 shares and holding a total of 2,323,015 shares worth approximately $502.6 million.
• MarketAxess recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.00, beating estimates by $0.06 and showing an 11% increase in year-over-year revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing a yield of 1.6%, with the dividend set to be paid on September 3rd.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,323,015 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 24,606 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 6.24% of MarketAxess worth $502,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in MarketAxess by 49.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in MarketAxess by 57.4% in 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 during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 173.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MarketAxess stock traded up $1.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $188.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 589,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,279. The business has a fifty day moving average of $208.74 and a 200 day moving average of $211.25. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $182.99 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The company has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. MarketAxess's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued 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 payout ratio is 51.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MKTX. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 price objective (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $229.70.

MarketAxess Company 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.