Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC Sells 6,447 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC lessened its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 38.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,447 shares during the period. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in MarketAxess by 185.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Bank of America increased their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $220.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MarketAxess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.11.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX opened at $221.81 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $204.99 and its 200-day moving average is $235.29. The firm has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. 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 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%. On average, 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 disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. 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.