Versor Investments LP Makes New Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MKTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.50.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $261.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.78.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is currently 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.