Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires 1,622 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 33.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at $1,088,000. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 363,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth about $539,000. Finally, Taika Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth about $2,689,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Trading Up 5.5 %

MKTX stock opened at $221.81 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $204.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.15.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised MarketAxess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $220.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.11.

About MarketAxess

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.