MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning reduced its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 34.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 511 shares during the quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 347.6% in 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 raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 39.6% during the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MKTX shares. UBS Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays cut their price target on MarketAxess from $236.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America assumed coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $230.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.64.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

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

MarketAxess Stock Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $201.01 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 1.03. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.76.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.47%.

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.