MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Chairman Richard M. Mcvey Sells 20,000 Shares

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX opened at $261.65 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $272.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.53.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth about $7,866,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 174.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 4,284 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth about $882,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 48.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,547,000 after buying an additional 3,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth about $842,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.