HighTower Advisors LLC Has $292,000 Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,966,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 3,121 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in MarketAxess by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,265,000 after buying an additional 10,361 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 1.5% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 164,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,913,000 after buying an additional 2,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $42,967,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871 in the last quarter. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $229.46 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $264.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.49. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.00.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $264.60.

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.