Fmr LLC Has $501.91 Million Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

FMR LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 291,134 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned approximately 5.20% of MarketAxess worth $501,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring 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 other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the firm'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 approximately $150,438,302.43. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $3.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $258.69. The company had a trading volume of 230,227 shares, 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 stock has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.58.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $207.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $267.50.

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.