Cerity Partners LLC Has $1.58 Million Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 405.1% during the second 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 last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on 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 target price on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $263.47 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $297.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.32.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

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.