Shell Asset Management Co. Has $957,000 Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 285.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,133 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 16.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 242.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,215 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 5,818 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 22.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,265,000 after buying an additional 10,361 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 65.0% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 48,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,935,000 after buying an additional 19,062 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $3.27 on Tuesday, hitting $222.69. The company had a trading volume of 512,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 499,911. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.47. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. MarketAxess's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has a consensus 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.