California State Teachers Retirement System Has $13.31 Million Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $13,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 347.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1,030.8% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 2,428.6% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock traded up $3.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $224.81. 25,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 417,991. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $206.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.57. The company has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.82% and a net margin of 33.83%. The firm had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.99 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $241.00.

MarketAxess 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.