Aigen Investment Management LP Decreases Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Aigen Investment Management LP trimmed its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 45.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,686 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX stock opened at $264.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $272.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $235.13. The firm has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a PEG ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $192.42 and a 1 year high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted 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. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. The business had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.11%.

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MKTX. Citigroup increased their target price on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $267.50.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.