NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Acquires 4,287 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 188.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,287 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Stance Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $170.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 2.89 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $176.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.46.

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). The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Argus downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.