MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Short Interest Update

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,470,800 shares, a decrease of 19.2% from the February 12th total of 1,819,848 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 484,090 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 484,090 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX opened at $180.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.80. MarketAxess has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $232.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.82. The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.93.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MarketAxess will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research upgraded MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth $42,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.