Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 453 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,878,000 after purchasing an additional 564,820 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,657,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,508,000 after purchasing an additional 290,347 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 120.6% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 393,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,823,000 after purchasing an additional 214,928 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,330,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,881,000 after purchasing an additional 204,960 shares during the period. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,134,000 after purchasing an additional 204,660 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock opened at $255.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a P/E/G ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $241.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.11.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. 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. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 43.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.40.

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.