Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd Sells 4,590,750 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd lessened its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 99.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,590,750 shares during the quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd owned about 0.06% of MarketAxess worth $4,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 444.2% during the third quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,638,000 after buying an additional 31,093 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 305.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,449,000 after acquiring an additional 35,056 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in MarketAxess by 66.6% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,681,000 after acquiring an additional 891,303 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 163.1% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,280,000 after acquiring an additional 7,798 shares during the period. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP increased its stake in MarketAxess by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 911,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,804,000 after acquiring an additional 491,358 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $124.81 on Wednesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $113.29 and a one year high of $225.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $145.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.86.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $233.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.91 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company 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 was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays cut their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $134.00 price target (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.10.

About MarketAxess

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.