Fmr LLC Acquires 291,134 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Fmr LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 291,134 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned approximately 5.20% of MarketAxess worth $501,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.2 %

MKTX opened at $258.69 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $297.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $273.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.11%.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. The trade was a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

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.