D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 6,625 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 65.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,625 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $3,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Creative Planning raised its position in MarketAxess by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at $247,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in MarketAxess by 312.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX stock opened at $189.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $188.57 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $217.17 and a 200-day moving average of $244.93.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted 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%. Equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.82 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.