Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $2.74 Million Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock opened at $233.73 on Friday. 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 $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a PEG ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $270.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.85.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’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 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total transaction of $5,435,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares in the company, valued at $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,183,871. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MKTX. 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.