Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires Shares of 14,199 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,210,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in MarketAxess by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $216.87 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $207.93 and its 200 day moving average is $240.44. The company has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. On average, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report 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 report 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 report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.