Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 358,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,926 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $91,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 47.4% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.1 %

MarketAxess stock opened at $261.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $273.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.51. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.05.

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

MarketAxess declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

MarketAxess 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.