MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $1,088,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 363,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,966,000. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $539,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $212.38 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS 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 forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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 for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.78.

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.