Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 35,000 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. reduced its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 58.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 35,000 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned about 0.07% of MarketAxess worth $4,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 66.6% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,681,000 after buying an additional 891,303 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,948,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,549,000 after buying an additional 119,036 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,532,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $342,312,000 after buying an additional 67,290 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 951,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,727,000 after buying an additional 192,626 shares during the period. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 911,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,804,000 after buying an additional 491,358 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $173.50 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $232.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.72 by ($0.04). MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.The firm had revenue of $209.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MKTX. Argus downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.11.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.