MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 758,000 shares, an increase of 15.5% from the November 15th total of 656,200 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 394,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $233.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 292,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,815. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.00. MarketAxess has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $241.85.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The business had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess will post 7.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. The trade was a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871 over the last ninety days. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 405.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 555.6% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $289.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $266.70.

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.