American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 264,855 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 119.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 487,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 264,855 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $108,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 992.9% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth $37,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 51.2% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 160.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Argus raised MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $205.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $163.88 on Wednesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $266.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.18.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $208.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.59 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.70%.

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.