Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 29,163 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,592,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.08% of MarketAxess at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $241.78.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $4.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $218.79. 652,896 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 500,612. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $218.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $220.55. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The firm has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.81 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. The firm's revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. 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.