Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 25,135 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 39.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 38,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 25,135 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.10% of MarketAxess worth $9,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 405.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 47.4% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 592,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.2 %

MKTX traded down $3.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $258.69. 230,227 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 404,515. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $297.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $273.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.22. The company has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess announced that its board 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 reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $267.50.

MarketAxess 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.