Ieq Capital LLC Invests $2.25 Million in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,253,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,103,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 17.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $501,907,000 after buying an additional 291,134 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,000,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $452,246,000 after buying an additional 236,497 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at $42,967,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,076,877 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $275,122,000 after acquiring an additional 139,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $254.78.

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MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $191.35. 826,298 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,645. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.84 and a 1 year high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. Sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. This is a boost from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company's stock.

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.