Custom Index Systems LLC Invests $447,000 in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $236,000. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 44,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,019,000 after purchasing an additional 15,924 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 35.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 177,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,558,000 after purchasing an additional 46,470 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.60.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $256.85 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $226.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.72, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.07. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.05 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.47%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Company Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates an electronic trading platform for institutional investor and broker-dealer companies worldwide. The company offers trading technology that provides liquidity access in U.S. high-grade bonds, U.S. high-yield bonds, emerging market debt, eurobonds, municipal bonds, U.S.