Short Interest in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Rises By 51.9%

Key Points

• Short interest jumped by 51.9% in March to 2,233,705 shares (about 6.5% of shares sold short) with a days-to-cover ratio of 4.0, signaling increased bearish positioning.
• MarketAxess missed quarterly estimates, reporting $1.68 EPS vs. a $1.72 consensus and $209.4M revenue vs. $214.1M expected, though revenue was up about 3.5% year-over-year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.78 (annualized $3.12, ~1.9% yield), while analysts' consensus is a "Hold" with an average price target of $200.40.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,233,705 shares, a growth of 51.9% from the February 26th total of 1,470,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 556,293 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 6.5% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ MKTX traded down $2.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $164.12. 324,306 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 539,979. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $156.17 and a 52-week high of $232.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.93.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The business had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. MarketAxess's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MKTX shares. Argus lowered shares of MarketAxess from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings raised MarketAxess from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays cut their target price on MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $200.40.

About MarketAxess

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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