BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Reduces Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. trimmed its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,217 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.05% of MarketAxess worth $5,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 405.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in MarketAxess by 47.4% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $260.35 on Monday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.10. The firm has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) 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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.11%.

MarketAxess announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. This represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.