Citigroup Inc. Sells 8,278 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Citigroup Inc. lowered its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,909 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,278 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.14% of MarketAxess worth $13,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2,889.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,261 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $68,032,000 after acquiring an additional 327,913 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 53.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $164,447,000 after purchasing an additional 285,665 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 120.6% during the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 393,073 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,823,000 after buying an additional 214,928 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 18.2% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,330,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $266,881,000 after buying an additional 204,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in MarketAxess by 10.3% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,828,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $366,580,000 after purchasing an additional 170,095 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX traded down $3.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $258.69. 230,227 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 404,515. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $273.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.22.

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

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 dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MKTX shares. Citigroup increased their target price on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $267.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 directly owns 562,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.