Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. Sells 160,914 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 244,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 160,914 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.65% of MarketAxess worth $55,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in MarketAxess by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 185.7% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $241.78.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX traded up $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $217.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 378,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 647,343. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $217.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.41. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. The firm had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.92 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. 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.