SG Americas Securities LLC Has $5.53 Million Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 613.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,563 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.06% of MarketAxess worth $5,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd increased its stake in MarketAxess by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,878,000 after buying an additional 564,820 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 2,889.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,032,000 after buying an additional 327,913 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in MarketAxess by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,657,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,508,000 after buying an additional 290,347 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in MarketAxess by 53.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,447,000 after buying an additional 285,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 120.6% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 393,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,823,000 after purchasing an additional 214,928 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $273.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.18, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.38. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $197.70 million during 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%. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $240.50.

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.