UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Trims Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• UBS AM reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 52.1%, selling 153,516 shares and currently holding approximately 0.38% of the company valued at $30.5 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 99.01% of MarketAxess, with several firms increasing their positions during the same quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on MarketAxess, with a consensus recommendation of "Hold" and price targets ranging from $204 to $255.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC trimmed its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 52.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 153,516 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 0.38% of MarketAxess worth $30,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in MarketAxess by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $755,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 79,350.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 4,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in MarketAxess by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 1,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $179.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 312,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 600,627. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $194.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.97. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.88. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $177.84 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $219.46 million for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 target price (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $228.09.

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.