Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 336 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 11.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth about $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 174.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 84.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 3.4% during 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 buying an additional 5,859 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,526,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,325,563,000 after buying an additional 34,197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $254.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $240.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.86. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97.

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

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. 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 payout ratio is presently 43.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.60.

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.