MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Purchased by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,272,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 30.3% during 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 21.2% during 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 period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,122,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $328,742,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,134,000 after buying an additional 204,660 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total value of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the company’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 value of $142,915.71. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.5 %

MKTX opened at $235.60 on Wednesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.86.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.82% and a net margin of 33.83%. The company had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on MKTX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.60.

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.