Gator Capital Management LLC Invests $2.02 Million in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Gator Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 11,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,015,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 151.0% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter worth about $406,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $120.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.86. 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 Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $113.29 and a one year high of $228.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.33.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.10. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.The business had revenue of $233.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus downgraded MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upgraded MarketAxess from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $134.00 target price (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.10.

MarketAxess Profile

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.