Insider Selling: MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Chairman Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.8 %

MKTX traded down $2.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $264.98. 287,391 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 406,868. The company’s 50-day moving average is $272.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.92. The company has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20, a P/E/G ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

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

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 40.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 405.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 47.4% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at $54,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.