Wasatch Advisors LP Cuts Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Wasatch Advisors LP trimmed its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 538,721 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,790 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 1.43% of MarketAxess worth $121,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 189.5% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 22,159 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,009,000 after buying an additional 14,506 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $232,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $81,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2,755.5% in the 4th quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 102,427 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,153,000 after acquiring an additional 98,840 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock traded down $2.64 during trading on Monday, reaching $222.52. 108,391 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 485,873. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $207.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $233.92.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess's payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MKTX. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MarketAxess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess 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.