MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,546 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.18% of MarketAxess worth $15,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKTX. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in MarketAxess by 4.0% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in MarketAxess by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $216.75 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.84 and a 1 year high of $296.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $207.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.19.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

MarketAxess 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.