Findlay Park Partners LLP Trims Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Findlay Park Partners LLP trimmed its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 656,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,700 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP owned approximately 1.76% of MarketAxess worth $146,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MKTX. 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 992.9% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 51.2% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 160.5% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.2%

MKTX opened at $164.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $169.99 and a 200 day moving average of $193.97. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.17 and a 12 month high of $266.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.94.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $208.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 51.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of MarketAxess from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $247.00 to $209.00 in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Piper Sandler set a $180.00 price target on MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $205.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total transaction of $276,868.08. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

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.