State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $2.88 Million Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 485 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 999.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 222,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,104,000 after acquiring an additional 202,121 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,747,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at about $362,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 109.5% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $189.12 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.99 and a 1 year high of $296.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $210.27 and its 200-day moving average is $211.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MKTX shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $204.00 price target (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.70.

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.