Advisors Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 201 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $1,966,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 207.3% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 9,539 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 15,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 46.2% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after buying an additional 10,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $258.69 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $273.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.58.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MKTX. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

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.