Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $437,000 Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 495.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $217.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $208.03 and a 200 day moving average of $241.12.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results 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, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. 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. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.78.

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.