Two Sigma Investments LP Acquires 51,396 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,319 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 51,396 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned 0.76% of MarketAxess worth $65,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 363,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $539,000. Taika Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $2,689,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at $46,079,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MKTX. Barclays lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $241.78.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $1.44 on Friday, hitting $217.85. 317,874 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 502,917. The company's 50 day moving average price is $217.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $223.17. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.97, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.92 EPS. The business's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 52.87%.

MarketAxess Company 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.