National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 43,153 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 421.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,153 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $13,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,966,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 15,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,121 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MarketAxess by 22.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,265,000 after acquiring an additional 10,361 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 1.5% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 164,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in MarketAxess by 32.5% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 82,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,237,000 after acquiring an additional 20,334 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $266.70.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $240.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.57. 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 data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

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.