MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 1,422.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 58,800 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.17% of MarketAxess worth $14,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 495.2% during the fourth 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. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 185.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded up $2.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $216.01. 530,864 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 497,630. The firm has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $217.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.40. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. The firm 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 earned $1.92 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. MarketAxess's payout ratio is currently 52.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MKTX shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $232.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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. William Blair started coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $241.78.

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.