Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New $281,000 Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,245 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 495.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 185.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $213.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $241.78.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.2%

MKTX traded down $2.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $215.35. 101,771 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 500,911. The stock's 50-day moving average is $217.97 and its 200 day moving average is $222.38. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $208.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS 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. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. MarketAxess's payout ratio is 52.87%.

About MarketAxess

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.