MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Chairman Sells $2,676,700.00 in Stock

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $261.65 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $272.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.78. The firm has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS 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 business had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm 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, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.11%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,878,000 after buying an additional 564,820 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 2,889.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,032,000 after acquiring an additional 327,913 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 17.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $501,907,000 after purchasing an additional 291,134 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,447,000 after purchasing an additional 285,665 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 120.6% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 393,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,823,000 after purchasing an additional 214,928 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MKTX. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $267.50.

About MarketAxess

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.