MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock Holdings Raised by Flossbach Von Storch SE

Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 44.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,990 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $3,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 10,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,253,000. Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 450.0% during the fourth quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 11,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,486,000 after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,684,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in MarketAxess by 65.6% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,781,000 after purchasing an additional 6,625 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.3 %

MKTX stock opened at $191.54 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $218.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.32. The company has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.88 and a 12 month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.72%.

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.