MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd trimmed its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 12.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,400 shares during the period. MarketAxess makes up about 1.0% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd owned about 0.10% of MarketAxess worth $9,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKTX. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position 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 worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $272.27. 29,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 406,095. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $297.97. The stock’s fifty 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $206.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The company’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 reacquire 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 shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.