LPL Financial LLC Acquires 3,746 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 192.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,746 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,987,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 3,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,119,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,221 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of MKTX traded down $3.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $219.00. The stock had a trading volume of 125,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,283. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $208.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.48. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68. The firm has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. This is an increase from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $220.00 to $213.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised MarketAxess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $252.11.

About MarketAxess

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.