MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV decreased its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 230.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their price target on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.78.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MarketAxess stock opened at $194.26 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $215.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.65. The company has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share 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, research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders 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 a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. 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.