Legal & General Group Plc Has $26.51 Million Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 31.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 117,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,983 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $26,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Allianz SE bought a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 495.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 185.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Trading Up 5.5 %

MKTX stock opened at $221.81 on Monday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $235.15.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $220.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised MarketAxess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.11.

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.