NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 11,441 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

NFJ Investment Group LLC lowered its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,441 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned about 0.32% of MarketAxess worth $27,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 495.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 185.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $2.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $225.16. 351,905 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 486,822. The firm has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $206.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $234.55.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised MarketAxess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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 assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.