World Investment Advisors Makes New $397,000 Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

World Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 185.7% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays cut their price target on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $241.44.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.3%

MKTX stock traded down $2.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $216.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 284,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 500,290. The company has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.85. The business's 50 day moving average price is $220.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.53. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.05. The business 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st were issued 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 dividend yield of 1.41%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is 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.