Amalgamated Bank Decreases Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 575 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 80.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 1,493 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 79,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,343,000 after acquiring an additional 3,588 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 124.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,424,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,589,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $254.38 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.42. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MKTX. StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MarketAxess news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.