Alps Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,358 shares during the quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of MarketAxess worth $10,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the first quarter worth about $280,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at approximately $376,000. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 26.6% during the first quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 60,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,087,000 after purchasing an additional 12,697 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,214,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 630,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $142,524,000 after acquiring an additional 15,713 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock traded down $2.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $216.05. 284,049 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 499,417. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $220.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.85.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.57% and a return on equity of 19.93%. The firm had revenue of $208.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 52.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $241.44.

MarketAxess Company 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.