Jump Financial LLC Grows Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 189.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,506 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $5,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% in the fourth 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. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its position in MarketAxess by 185.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MKTX opened at $222.73 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $206.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.77. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The firm has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. William Blair began coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $220.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of MarketAxess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.