MML Investors Services LLC Sells 560 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX – Get Rating) by 10.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 560 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in MarketAxess by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 41,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,145,000 after acquiring an additional 16,923 shares in the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 41.8% during the second quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 150,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,622,000 after purchasing an additional 44,505 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 4.8% during the second quarter. Ossiam now owns 9,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. First Merchants Corp boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 21.2% during the third quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 4,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 31.7% during the second quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 102,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,217,000 after purchasing an additional 24,654 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $360.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $238.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $297.00 to $336.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $313.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $325.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $331.36.

MarketAxess Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $354.78 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $332.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.59. The stock has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.35 and a beta of 0.77. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.44 and a 12-month high of $389.57.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.84% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The business had revenue of $177.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 7th. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven L. Begleiter sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.73, for a total transaction of $348,730.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,538 shares in the company, valued at $2,977,456.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About MarketAxess

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MarketAxess Holdings, Inc engages in electronic trading platform that allows investment industry professionals to trade corporate bonds and other types of fixed-income instruments. It operates through the Americas, Europe, and Asia geographical segments. The company was founded by Richard Mitchell Mcvey on April 11, 2000, and is headquartered in New York, NY.