KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $3.12 Million Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,119,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $901,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth $3,210,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $1,153,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 708.2% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 17,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after buying an additional 15,389 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.7 %

MarketAxess stock opened at $214.88 on Thursday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.84 and a 12-month high of $296.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One 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, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.