Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 25,403 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 318,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,403 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $81,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 405.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth $54,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $271.63 on Wednesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a PEG ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.69.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their price target on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.