South Dakota Investment Council Boosts Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

South Dakota Investment Council grew its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised 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 acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 230.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $194.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $215.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.65. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 41.82%.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MKTX. 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 note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.78.

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.