Assetmark Inc. Grows Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 160.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $97,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 47.4% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 555.6% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.50.

Insider Activity

In other MarketAxess news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MarketAxess stock opened at $261.65 on Monday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $272.48 and a 200 day moving average of $235.98. The company has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.