Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 444.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 31,093 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of MarketAxess worth $6,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first 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 period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth $38,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $185.12 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $176.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.97. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.93. 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 Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.17 and a 12 month high of $232.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MKTX. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research raised MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.