Dundas Partners LLP Purchases New Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Dundas Partners LLP purchased a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,594 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $520,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 155.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 47.4% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at approximately $68,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.1 %

MarketAxess stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $254.19. 374,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 415,996. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $192.42 and a one year high of $297.97. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $240.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.33, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. This is an increase from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MKTX. StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $238.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company's stock.

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.