Banque Pictet & Cie SA Invests $382,000 in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $382,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allianz SE purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 495.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 49.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 185.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 57.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. William Blair started coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $241.44.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $217.25. 289,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 499,446. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $220.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 37.78, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.85.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share. MarketAxess's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 52.87%.

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.