Rhumbline Advisers Trims Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 9.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,132 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.21% of MarketAxess worth $15,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 41.5% during the 1st quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.60.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $257.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $192.42 and a one year high of $297.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.86, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 1.07.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About MarketAxess

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.