MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stock Position Lifted by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,671 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,947 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. owned 0.07% of MarketAxess worth $5,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 6,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,379,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings 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 worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 8.6% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 341,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $73,935,000 after acquiring an additional 27,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,075,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $223.25. 558,901 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 648,393. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The firm has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $218.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $219.35.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 52.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $241.78.

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.