Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Increases Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 2,176.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,504 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. owned about 0.06% of MarketAxess worth $4,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew 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. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.78.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of MKTX opened at $217.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $207.99 and a 200 day moving average of $240.95. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.84 and a 52-week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

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

About MarketAxess

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.