The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $1.12 Million in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 9,871 MarketAxess shares worth approximately $1.12 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 99.01% of the company’s stock.
• MarketAxess exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.95 versus the $1.85 consensus and revenue of $218.41 million; however, revenue declined 0.5% year over year. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, yielding about 1.9%.
• Analyst sentiment is predominantly neutral: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $156.10, below its reported market price of $163.38.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,120,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.9% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in MarketAxess by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 7,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 7,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $163.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.75 and a 52-week high of $195.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $141.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.83.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 35.22% and a return on equity of 22.48%. The business had revenue of $218.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $216.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MKTX. William Blair downgraded MarketAxess from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group lowered shares of MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, July 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $134.00 price target (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded MarketAxess from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, June 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.10.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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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