MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 390 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 49.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 57.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 173.0% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MKTX shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $204.00 price target (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.70.

MarketAxess Stock Up 1.3%

MKTX stock opened at $190.04 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.99 and a 12-month high of $296.68. The company has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.99, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $212.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.27.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The company had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 51.18%.

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.