MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Purchased by Capstone Investment Advisors LLC

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 102.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,569 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,966,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 207.3% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 9,539 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 25.6% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 15,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after buying an additional 3,121 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 46.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after acquiring an additional 10,361 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $261.71 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $192.42 and a one year high of $297.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.05.

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

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MKTX. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.50.

MarketAxess 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.