MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) General Counsel Scott Pintoff Sells 100 Shares

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.03, for a total transaction of $11,603.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 11,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,367,529.58. This trade represents a 0.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Scott Pintoff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 11th, Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of MarketAxess stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.99, for a total transaction of $14,699.00.
• On Friday, April 10th, Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of MarketAxess stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.96, for a total transaction of $17,196.00.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX traded up $4.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $120.89. 676,791 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,082. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $113.29 and a 1-year high of $228.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $148.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.65.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a net margin of 35.53% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The company had revenue of $233.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 36.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Argus downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of MarketAxess from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 169.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,558,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $463,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607,009 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,175,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $575,546,000 after purchasing an additional 944,830 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 5,086.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 951,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,373,000 after purchasing an additional 932,687 shares during the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 1,609,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,691,000 after purchasing an additional 697,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $91,324,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Company Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.