Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 203,854 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $46,079,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.54% of MarketAxess at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MKTX. Quantinno Capital Management LP acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at $360,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,535,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 16.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 140,760 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,063,000 after purchasing an additional 19,962 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth $836,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $2.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $225.16. The stock had a trading volume of 351,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 487,333. The company has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $207.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.92.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. On average, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from MarketAxess's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. MarketAxess's dividend payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $252.11.

MarketAxess 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.