Nia Impact Advisors LLC Acquires 161 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Nia Impact Advisors LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC lifted 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.60.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $257.13 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $297.97. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $232.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $216.85. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.07. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 43.47%.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.