Metis Global Partners LLC Acquires 133 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 15,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at about $512,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth about $266,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 160.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 3,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $267.50.

MarketAxess Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $267.33 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $272.48 and its 200 day moving average is $235.98. The firm has a market cap of $10.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.11%.

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

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Company 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.