Brown Capital Management LLC Sells 5,251 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Brown Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,037 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,251 shares during the quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $995,272,000 after acquiring an additional 13,018 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in MarketAxess by 730.1% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 4,599 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 4,045 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 1st quarter worth approximately $842,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 7.0% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 27,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,107,000 after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Finally, Guardian Capital LP lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 15.3% during the first quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 25,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,497,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $4.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $260.97. The company had a trading volume of 312,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,998. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $273.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.04.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. MarketAxess's quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess 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 stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $267.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.