Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 82.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 971 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,589 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $210,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz SE acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 49.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 57.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at about $56,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.2%

MKTX traded down $2.70 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $214.55. The company had a trading volume of 304,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 498,989. The stock has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.31, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.44. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.84 and a 52 week high of $296.68.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. William Blair started coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $240.67.

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.