Norris Perne & French LLP MI Buys 1,704 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI owned approximately 0.09% of MarketAxess worth $7,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 2,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 6,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,944,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.73.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MKTX stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $200.53. 1,208,962 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 479,589. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $297.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $203.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $227.73.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.82% and a net margin of 33.83%. The business had revenue of $210.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

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.