Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $5.43 Million Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,271 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $5,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 13,900.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $216.15 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $206.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.03. The stock has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. Equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MKTX shares. 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 research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.44.

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.