Larson Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $212.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.84 and a 52 week high of $296.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $209.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.22.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. Analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.