MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,189 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter worth $37,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 51.2% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in MarketAxess by 160.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $165.06 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $245.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $167.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.82. The company has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 7.62 and a beta of 1.00.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The company had revenue of $208.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.59 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Piper Sandler set a $180.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $205.91.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total transaction of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares in the company, valued at $12,542,642.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.