Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Increases Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 2.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $257.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.85. 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 Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The company had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 43.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MKTX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $238.60.

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.