Metis Global Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 78 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in MarketAxess by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,142 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $296,000. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,491,000 after acquiring an additional 4,258 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $12,200,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $195.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.84 and a twelve month high of $296.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $211.19 and a 200 day moving average of $242.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.76 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective 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 decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.