Primecap Management Co. CA Boosts Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 891,303 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.06% of MarketAxess worth $388,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 393.0% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 98,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,948,000 after acquiring an additional 78,336 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 238.1% during the second quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 2,738 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $866,000. ING Groep NV lifted its position in MarketAxess by 655.2% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 13,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 11,886 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in MarketAxess by 535.8% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 108,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,228,000 after purchasing an additional 91,419 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.7%

MarketAxess stock opened at $180.51 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.17 and a fifty-two week high of $232.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $175.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 3.42.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released 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 firm had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. Analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be 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 dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Argus reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.40.

MarketAxess 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.