Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 8,193 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,852,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth about $1,088,000. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 363,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $82,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $539,000. Finally, Taika Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,689,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $220.00 to $213.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MarketAxess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $252.11.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MKTX traded up $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $222.41. 466,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 487,608. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.48. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.84 and a twelve month high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 30.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. This is a boost from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.82%.

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.