LRT Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

LRT Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,725 shares during the quarter. LRT Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,681,000 after buying an additional 891,303 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 485.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 758,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,195,000 after buying an additional 628,954 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at approximately $114,593,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 469.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 486,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,704,000 after acquiring an additional 400,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 67.1% during the third quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 692,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $127,257,000 after acquiring an additional 277,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX opened at $180.33 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.72. 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 earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 29.14% and a return on equity of 20.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. Research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.40.

MarketAxess Company 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.