Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 35,056 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 305.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,056 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.13% of MarketAxess worth $8,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Stance Capital LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of MKTX opened at $164.12 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.17 and a 52 week high of $232.84. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.80.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by ($0.04). The firm 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%.The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 46.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MKTX. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Argus cut MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.40.

About MarketAxess

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.