ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Has $8.21 Million Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 47,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,200 shares during the quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $8,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of MKTX stock opened at $180.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.97. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $232.84. The company has a current ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.57.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $209.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.06 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.88% and a net margin of 29.14%.MarketAxess’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MKTX shares. Zacks Research upgraded MarketAxess from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $182.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.40.

MarketAxess Company Profile

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.