Andra AP fonden Makes New $5.92 Million Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 26,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,922,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 179.5% in the 4th 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. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.4 %

MKTX stock opened at $208.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $209.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.78.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.