National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 1,880 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 22.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,880 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 35.5% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 177,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,558,000 after purchasing an additional 46,470 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 422.0% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 44.4% in the second quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 5,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.7% in the second quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 220,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,290,000 after acquiring an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 10.3% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,828,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,580,000 after acquiring an additional 170,095 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 research note on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Two research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.60.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $255.41 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $229.10 and its 200-day moving average is $216.00. The company has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 1.07.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

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

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.