MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Director Sells $298,544.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Sale: MarketAxess Director Stephen Casper sold 1,600 shares for a total of $298,544, reducing their ownership by 3.57%, leaving them with approximately 43,208 shares valued at $8.06 million.
• Quarterly Earnings: The company reported earnings of $2.00 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue increasing by 11% year-over-year to $219.46 million.
• Dividend Announcement: MarketAxess declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76, yielding 1.6%, with an annual payout ratio of 51.18%.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) Director Stephen Casper sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of MKTX traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $188.17. 680,734 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 599,046. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.72. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $178.20 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The company has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.88.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $218.05 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 20th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is presently 51.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 5,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,121,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,080 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,105,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Argus raised shares of MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $204.00 target price (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $228.09.

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.

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