International Assets Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 28,547.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,132 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $3,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 316.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 11,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,367,000 after buying an additional 8,771 shares in the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,715,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 3.4% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 91,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,622,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2.0% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,705,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $364,462,000 after purchasing an additional 33,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 339.0% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 38,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,253,000 after buying an additional 29,830 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Up 1.3 %

MKTX stock opened at $204.82 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $198.01 and a twelve month high of $303.85. The firm has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.52.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $210.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.99 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 34.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total transaction of $442,520.00. Following the sale, the executive now owns 70,092 shares in the company, valued at $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MKTX. Bank of America initiated coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.73.

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.