Norris Perne & French LLP MI Increases Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 5.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 34,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $7,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in MarketAxess by 347.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 155.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its position in MarketAxess by 39.6% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in MarketAxess by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total value of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $0.85 on Friday, reaching $200.53. 1,208,962 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 479,589. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $297.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $203.73 and its 200-day moving average is $227.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.99 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.82% and a net margin of 33.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.17 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America began coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $236.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.73.

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.