Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

MarketAxess Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $217.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $208.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.84 and a 52 week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. Analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MKTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler decreased 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 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. Barclays reduced their price objective 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 target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.