Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 8,977 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,702 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,977 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of MarketAxess worth $10,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 230.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 261 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth $71,103,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position 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. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,000,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $452,246,000 after purchasing an additional 236,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 8,277.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 119,797 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,079,000 after purchasing an additional 118,367 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

MarketAxess Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of MKTX traded up $4.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $198.58. 524,443 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 648,243. The company has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.10. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.84 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

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, 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%. Research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $254.78.

MarketAxess 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.