MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc cut its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 31.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 521 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 47.4% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $260.35 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The company has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a PE ratio of 35.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.21.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.11%.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at $150,438,302.43. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.