MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. reduced its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 29.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 111,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,287 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $22,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2,428.6% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 47.4% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $68,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MKTX. 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 objective on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on 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 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $238.60.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $254.38 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.35, a P/E/G ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $239.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.42.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 1.16%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 43.47%.

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.