Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. Acquires 12,697 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. increased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 26.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,697 shares during the period. MarketAxess accounts for approximately 3.5% of Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of MarketAxess worth $13,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versor Investments LP raised its stake in MarketAxess by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,000. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,512,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. William Blair began coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $241.78.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded down $3.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $219.17. The company had a trading volume of 435,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 497,822. The stock has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 38.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.85. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $220.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.27.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $208.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.81 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 26.57%. The business's revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. MarketAxess's 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.