National Bank of Canada FI Has $4.92 Million Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 59.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,640 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of MarketAxess worth $4,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 274.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,951,000 after purchasing an additional 22,538 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 62,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,151,000 after acquiring an additional 8,164 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in MarketAxess by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 92,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in MarketAxess by 471.2% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 83,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,912,000 after acquiring an additional 69,021 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.5 %

MKTX stock opened at $212.94 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $206.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.41. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.84 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. Research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.44.

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.