MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Bought by Van Berkom & Associates Inc.

Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,485 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. owned about 0.43% of MarketAxess worth $32,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 1.0% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 0.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 155.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 41.5% in the first quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment 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.com, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $258.34. 10,027 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 413,561. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.38. The firm has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.72, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 1.07. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.42 and a 1-year high of $297.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.71% and a return on equity of 20.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 43.47%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MarketAxess Company 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.