ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 2,848 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,848 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $2,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 16.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 140,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,063,000 after purchasing an additional 19,962 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 139.7% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 5,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,257,000 after buying an additional 3,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair started coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $213.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $241.78.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $1.44 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $217.85. 317,874 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 502,917. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The company's 50 day moving average price is $217.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.81.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

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

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.