Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Invests $239,000 in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,719,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 207.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 9,539 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter valued at about $338,000. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC now owns 28,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,243,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at about $517,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $270.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.50.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess 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 value of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. This trade 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX opened at $260.35 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $273.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.10. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $192.42 and a one year high of $297.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

MarketAxess declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.