Goodman Advisory Group LLC Invests $27,000 in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the first quarter worth about $68,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MKTX. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays cut their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.60.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $254.84 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $219.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The business had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.