UMB Bank n.a. Sells 295 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

UMB Bank n.a. reduced its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 59.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $53,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 47.4% in 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 period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in MarketAxess in the first quarter valued at about $68,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. Barclays increased their target price on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.80.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $284.50 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $297.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $251.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.78, a P/E/G ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.08.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The company had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.