2Xideas AG Buys 10,705 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

2Xideas AG increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,705 shares during the quarter. MarketAxess makes up about 1.5% of 2Xideas AG’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. 2Xideas AG owned approximately 0.13% of MarketAxess worth $11,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 495.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 185.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of MKTX opened at $212.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.56.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MKTX. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.44.

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.