MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Axa S.A.

Axa S.A. cut its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 949 shares during the period. Axa S.A. owned about 0.06% of MarketAxess worth $4,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 2.9% in the second quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $238.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.3 %

MarketAxess stock opened at $254.84 on Monday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $297.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $240.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.83. The firm has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The business had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.