California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 6,141 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,011 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,141 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.15% of MarketAxess worth $13,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased 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 period. Allianz SE bought a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 495.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its position in MarketAxess by 185.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $3.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $218.29. 152,386 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 499,824. The firm has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $218.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.56. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. The business had revenue of $208.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors 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 is 52.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $213.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. 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.com, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.