V Square Quantitative Management LLC Boosts Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter valued at $247,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 3,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $193.49 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.88 and a 52 week high of $296.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $220.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.18.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MKTX shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays cut their price target on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.