MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Purchased by Cumberland Partners Ltd

Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 450.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 8.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth approximately $247,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 2.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 3,507 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $4.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $194.21. 403,089 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 536,057. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.84 and a twelve month high of $296.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $217.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $244.93. The company has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.02.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) 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, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % 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. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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 cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.