MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Acquired by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,089 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.37% of MarketAxess worth $28,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MarketAxess by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 202,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,229,000 after buying an additional 5,475 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in MarketAxess by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 1,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 80.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 1,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 79,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,343,000 after acquiring an additional 3,588 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MKTX opened at $257.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $237.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $218.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.07. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.15%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About MarketAxess

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.