ProShare Advisors LLC Raises Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,848 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $213.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $241.78.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $222.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $217.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.47.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The firm had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.87%.

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.