B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes $1.97 Million Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,966,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Natixis acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth about $842,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 207.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after buying an additional 9,539 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 25.6% during 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. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 46.2% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,000 after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth $2,719,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX opened at $260.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $273.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.04.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors 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 repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has a consensus 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.