Virtu Financial LLC Invests $836,000 in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised 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 period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in MarketAxess by 555.6% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.0 %

MKTX stock opened at $233.73 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.60.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $206.70 million during 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 was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.38 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 40.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $2,676,700.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MKTX. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $266.70.

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.