AIA Group Ltd Decreases Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

AIA Group Ltd lowered its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,191 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd owned approximately 0.05% of MarketAxess worth $4,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $216.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $207.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.95. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 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, sell-side analysts expect 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 dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. Barclays cut their price target on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target 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 cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.