Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Takes $5.48 Million Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 24,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,476,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,230,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $941,305,000 after acquiring an additional 29,503 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.7% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,210,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $714,231,000 after acquiring an additional 23,861 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 34.2% during the second quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,961,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,179,000 after acquiring an additional 499,907 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.7% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,868,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,737,000 after acquiring an additional 13,367 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 3.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,231,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $273,937,000 after acquiring an additional 38,020 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Steven L. Begleiter sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.73, for a total transaction of $348,730.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,977,456.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 250 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.80, for a total transaction of $89,700.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 7,156 shares in the company, valued at $2,567,572.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven L. Begleiter sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.73, for a total value of $348,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,538 shares in the company, valued at $2,977,456.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,854 shares of company stock worth $659,844. 1.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $340.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MarketAxess from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on MarketAxess from $238.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on MarketAxess from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Atlantic Securities upgraded MarketAxess from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $321.00 to $403.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $331.36.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $389.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.61 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $352.19 and a 200-day moving average of $289.29. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.44 and a 12 month high of $397.27.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 34.84%. The company had revenue of $177.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 7th. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 43.31%.

MarketAxess Company Profile

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MarketAxess Holdings, Inc engages in electronic trading platform that allows investment industry professionals to trade corporate bonds and other types of fixed-income instruments. It operates through the Americas, Europe, and Asia geographical segments. The company was founded by Richard Mitchell Mcvey on April 11, 2000, and is headquartered in New York, NY.