B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 897 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 897 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lowered 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.44.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $210.83 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.84 and a 1 year high of $296.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.18. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.82%.

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.