JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 45,346 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 614,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,346 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $157,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $1,966,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after buying an additional 10,361 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.5% in the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 164,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,913,000 after buying an additional 2,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at $42,967,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $226.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $257.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.73. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $192.42 and a one year high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $206.70 million for 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 period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $276.00 to $255.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $264.60.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871. Company 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.