MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Position Increased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP raised its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 41.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,593 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $3,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP grew its position in MarketAxess by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $215.92 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.37. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.84 and a twelve month high of $296.68. The company has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly 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 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.