MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Ashford Capital Management Inc.

Ashford Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 29.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,765 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,525 shares during the period. Ashford Capital Management Inc. owned 0.11% of MarketAxess worth $9,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in MarketAxess by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MKTX shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $241.78.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX opened at $219.42 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $217.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $224.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The business had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.81 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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