National Bank of Canada FI Increases Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 421.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 43,153 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.14% of MarketAxess worth $13,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,535,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 188,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,268,000 after purchasing an additional 79,300 shares in the last quarter. QSV Equity Investors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $360,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $289.00 to $260.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group increased their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $266.70.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded down $5.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $234.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 566,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,615. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $241.57.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.11%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total transaction of $5,435,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. The trade was a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,183,871. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.