Point72 DIFC Ltd Makes New Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,002,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter worth about $129,000. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 8.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 7,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 3.3% during the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 6,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. The trade was a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $267.50.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.7 %

MKTX stock traded down $4.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $239.93. The stock had a trading volume of 573,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,448. The stock's 50 day moving average is $273.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.90. The firm has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a PEG ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.00. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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 $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 40.11%.

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.