Lazard Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 79,350.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,761 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 363,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $539,000. Taika Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $2,689,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,079,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MKTX stock traded down $3.23 on Thursday, reaching $216.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 446,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,503. The firm has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.95. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.84 and a 12-month high of $296.68.

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

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $241.78.

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.