Brown Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Brown Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 72.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,251 shares during the quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $531,878,000 after buying an additional 564,820 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2,889.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,032,000 after buying an additional 327,913 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 53.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $164,447,000 after acquiring an additional 285,665 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 120.6% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 393,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,823,000 after purchasing an additional 214,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in MarketAxess by 18.2% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,330,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,881,000 after buying an additional 204,960 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total transaction of $5,435,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares in the company, valued at $160,883,880.75. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $265.44 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.01 billion, a PE ratio of 35.97, a P/E/G ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.04. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MKTX. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.