Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC Invests $3.36 Million in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 19,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,361,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 485.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth approximately $114,593,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 119.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 487,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,811,000 after buying an additional 264,855 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 181.2% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 250,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,843,000 after acquiring an additional 161,115 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 1,789.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 145,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,396,000 after acquiring an additional 138,029 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $179.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.17 and a 52-week high of $232.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.16. The company has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.06 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.73 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.