Bayesian Capital Management LP Acquires New Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,719,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $995,272,000 after buying an additional 13,018 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 30.3% during the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,878,000 after buying an additional 564,820 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 21.2% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,657,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,508,000 after purchasing an additional 290,347 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,122,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,742,000 after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 40.0% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,134,000 after purchasing an additional 204,660 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total value of $99,740.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $223.35. 116,856 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 421,133. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.81. The company has a market cap of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.03.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.00.

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.