GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd Has $398.56 Million Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd cut its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,763,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 238,615 shares during the quarter. MarketAxess makes up about 6.4% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $398,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,987,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its position in MarketAxess by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 3,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth $3,119,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in MarketAxess by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,571,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $901,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.4 %

MKTX opened at $216.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $207.93 and a 200-day moving average of $240.44. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.84 and a 52 week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MKTX. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.