V Square Quantitative Management LLC Buys 101 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 174.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 84.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 9,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after purchasing an additional 4,502 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 96,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,253,000 after purchasing an additional 21,041 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,584,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $241.16. The company had a trading volume of 92,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,519. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $211.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.77. The company has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The business had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The stock was 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 $2,034,895.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered 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. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lowered 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.10.

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.