MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 230.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $194.26 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.65. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.84 and a 52 week high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MKTX. Barclays reduced their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.