MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Purchased by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 179.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 230.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX stock opened at $194.04 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $212.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $243.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, 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 link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MarketAxess Company 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.