MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Prana Capital Management LP

Prana Capital Management LP reduced its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 54.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,564 shares during the quarter. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 2.9% during the second quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 1,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 0.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 15,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,953,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 0.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 4.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $262.79 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $273.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.66. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.00.

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

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

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Shareholders 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 (DPR) is presently 40.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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 upped their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.50.

About MarketAxess

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.