Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Buys 4,258 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 38.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,258 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $3,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 15,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 4.0% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $192.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.84 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $212.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.34.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 1.58%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.78.

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.