MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 246,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,002 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.65% of MarketAxess worth $55,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 59,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,510,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 15,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 4,593 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 66,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,047,000 after purchasing an additional 10,546 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $279,000. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,774,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

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MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $217.73. 132,947 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 459,463. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.93, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $207.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.95.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. On average, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MKTX shares. Barclays dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $254.78.

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.