MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stake Raised by Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 120.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 393,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 214,928 shares during the quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. owned about 1.04% of MarketAxess worth $78,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $259.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.91. The stock has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.15, a PEG ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.07. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $192.42 and a one year high of $297.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $235.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.80.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The company’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess 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.