National Bank of Canada FI Sells 31,640 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 59.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,640 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of MarketAxess worth $4,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its stake in MarketAxess by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock traded up $11.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $221.81. 1,218,949 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 485,332. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $204.99 and its 200-day moving average is $235.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. Analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. 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 1.37%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 41.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. William Blair began coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MarketAxess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $252.11.

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.