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 P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of MarketAxess stock traded down $3.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $184.85. The company had a trading volume of 648,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 642,647. The stock has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.39. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $178.20 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. MarketAxess's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler restated 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. Argus upgraded MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $228.09.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the first quarter worth about $280,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the first quarter worth about $376,000. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 26.6% during the first quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 60,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,697 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 210.8% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,764,000 after acquiring an additional 11,801 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 13.6% during the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 24,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,338,000 after acquiring an additional 2,947 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MarketAxess

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.