MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) General Counsel Scott Pintoff Sells 100 Shares

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.12, for a total value of $11,512.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 11,686 shares in the company, valued at $1,345,292.32. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Scott Pintoff also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, June 10th, Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of MarketAxess stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.03, for a total value of $11,603.00.
• On Monday, May 11th, Scott Pintoff sold 100 shares of MarketAxess stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.99, for a total transaction of $14,699.00.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $113.86. 517,179 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 713,226. The stock has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $126.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.81. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.75 and a 1 year high of $219.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a current ratio of 2.17.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $233.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.91 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 35.53% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 305.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,449,000 after buying an additional 35,056 shares during the period. North Reef Capital Management LP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 491,358 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 163.1% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 7,798 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the third quarter worth about $2,435,000. Finally, Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth about $1,326,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MKTX. Argus cut shares of MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $170.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $168.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.45.

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.