MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Position Cut by Jackson Square Partners LLC

Jackson Square Partners LLC decreased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 117,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,766 shares during the quarter. MarketAxess comprises 2.9% of Jackson Square Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Jackson Square Partners LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $26,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth $71,103,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 17.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $501,907,000 after acquiring an additional 291,134 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in MarketAxess by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,000,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $452,246,000 after purchasing an additional 236,497 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,079,000. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,967,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $211.78 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $207.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.10. The company has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced 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 net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. On average, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change 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 recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.78.

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.