MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Stake Lifted by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 298.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,203 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.6%

MKTX stock opened at $164.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.94. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.93. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.17 and a 52 week high of $232.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The company had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 46.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings raised MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Argus downgraded MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.40.

MarketAxess Profile

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.