Ieq Capital LLC Makes New Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,253,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 8.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 25,593.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 22,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after buying an additional 22,522 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 99.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in MarketAxess by 42.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,947,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $193.96 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $216.37 and a 200-day moving average of $244.91. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.84 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02.

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

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.