MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a decrease of 17.7% from the March 15th total of 1,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 434,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total value of $442,520.00. Following the sale, the executive now owns 70,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 347.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 94.6% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 72 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 155.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $213.00 on Monday. MarketAxess has a fifty-two week low of $200.01 and a fifty-two week high of $344.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.11. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.29% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The business had revenue of $197.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.70 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $239.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.80.

MarketAxess Company 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.