Mather Group LLC. Invests $72,000 in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in MarketAxess by 80.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $617,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MarketAxess by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,526,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,563,000 after purchasing an additional 34,197 shares during the period. Finally, Alamar Capital Management LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Alamar Capital Management LLC now owns 7,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $194.41 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.54 and a 12 month high of $297.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $204.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.75.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The company had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. UBS Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.73.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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.