Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Raises Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MKTX. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $37,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 51.2% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 160.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $161.69 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.17 and a 1-year high of $267.24. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $171.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.The company had revenue of $208.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 51.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MKTX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered MarketAxess from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $247.00 to $209.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $205.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,542,642.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.