Van ECK Associates Corp Has $220.21 Million Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 37.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,214,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 733,666 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $220,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in MarketAxess by 151.0% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 1,614 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 8.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at approximately $406,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $120.89 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $147.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $113.29 and a one year high of $228.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.86.

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

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $134.00 target price (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of MarketAxess from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.10.

MarketAxess Company 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.