Trexquant Investment LP Increases Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 274.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,193 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.06% of MarketAxess worth $4,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 29,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,672,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 370,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,828,000 after purchasing an additional 63,061 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 526.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 94,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,294,000 after acquiring an additional 79,178 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth about $2,160,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 73.7% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MKTX. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $204.00 price objective (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $228.09.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $183.84 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $182.15 and a 52 week high of $296.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.04. The company has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.88.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.The business had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.18%.

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.