Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 22.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,361 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $14,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at about $1,966,000. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 25.6% in the third 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 period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 164,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,913,000 after buying an additional 2,485 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,967,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in MarketAxess by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 82,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,237,000 after buying an additional 20,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MarketAxess from $276.00 to $255.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $289.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $264.60.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $229.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $260.09 and its 200 day moving average is $243.73. The stock has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.03, a P/E/G ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.00. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.