CIBC Asset Management Inc Cuts Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

CIBC Asset Management Inc reduced its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 470 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 405.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its position in MarketAxess by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on MKTX shares. StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.60.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $256.85 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $226.53 and a 200 day moving average of $215.38. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $297.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 1.07.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 43.47%.

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.