MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,000,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 236,497 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 5.31% of MarketAxess worth $452,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MKTX. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at $1,088,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at $1,966,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at $982,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 22.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,265,000 after buying an additional 10,361 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 461.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 57,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,041,000 after buying an additional 47,568 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $2.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $193.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 642,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 493,569. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.88 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $220.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $246.02.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. As a group, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 40.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MKTX. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $254.78.

About MarketAxess

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.