MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 0.6%, now owning approximately 4.4 million shares valued at $953 million after selling 27,810 shares.
• MarketAxess's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.00, exceeding expectations, with revenue increasing by 11% year-over-year to $219.46 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.6% based on its current payout ratio of 51.18%.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,407,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,810 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.85% of MarketAxess worth $953,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $3.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $191.35. The company had a trading volume of 365,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,514. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.55. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.99 and a 1 year high of $296.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%. The firm's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $229.70.

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.