Aviva PLC Sells 818 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Aviva PLC reduced its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 818 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 16.4% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 19,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,334,000 after buying an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 210.8% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,764,000 after acquiring an additional 11,801 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at about $543,000. Ethic Inc. increased its position in MarketAxess by 190.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 3,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 2,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the first quarter worth about $362,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $174.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $173.33 and a 200-day moving average of $197.84. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $156.17 and a one year high of $269.01.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm had revenue of $208.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 51.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.