Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Reduces Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 0.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 53,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $11,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 347.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in MarketAxess by 1,030.8% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares during 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 valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $223.23 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $206.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.81.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.83% and a return on equity of 20.82%. The business had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $241.00.

About MarketAxess

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.