MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Trading 3.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) shot up 3.5% on Thursday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. The stock traded as high as $220.03 and last traded at $218.18. 99,555 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 462,906 shares. The stock had previously closed at $210.83.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of 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 dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $252.11.

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Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 93.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 25,960.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,693,000 after acquiring an additional 182,761 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in MarketAxess by 49.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 173.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $206.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

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.