Vinva Investment Management Ltd Takes $1.34 Million Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,342,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,657,000. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,369,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,472,000 after purchasing an additional 30,180 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 2,176.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,848,000 after buying an additional 20,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $743,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $217.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $207.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.62.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. Research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays cut their target price 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 cut their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.78.

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.