GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 128.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 174.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 4,284 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,325,563,000 after buying an additional 34,197 shares during the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the first quarter worth about $752,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth about $882,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $278.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.07, a PEG ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $250.06 and a 200 day moving average of $223.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results 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. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The business had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.16 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 given a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.65%.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MKTX shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.80.

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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Profile

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.