BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Reduces Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. trimmed its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 32,217 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.05% of MarketAxess worth $5,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 555.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of 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 given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $267.50.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock traded up $3.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $263.80. 608,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,653. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $192.42 and a 12 month high of $297.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $273.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.10.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share 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 business 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 earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is presently 40.11%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.