Squarepoint Ops LLC Acquires 19,226 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 1,890.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,226 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned 0.05% of MarketAxess worth $4,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $241.78.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX traded down $1.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $213.00. 259,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 502,131. The firm has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.84 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.33.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.