American International Group Inc. Reduces Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

American International Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 173 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $3,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 39.6% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 155.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $236.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $196.29 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $192.54 and a one year high of $297.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $229.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.04.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.99 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

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.