Primecap Management Co. CA Acquires 204,960 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 18.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,330,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 204,960 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 3.51% of MarketAxess worth $266,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 2.9% during the second quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 0.7% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 155.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 47.4% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.60.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.7 %

MKTX stock opened at $259.00 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $232.34 and its 200 day moving average is $216.90. The company has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.91.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

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.