Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 37.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,296 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $8,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in MarketAxess by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. State of Wyoming grew its position in MarketAxess by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in MarketAxess by 13.0% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in MarketAxess by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $295.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.70.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $189.27 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $182.99 and a one year high of $296.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $215.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%. The firm had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 51.18%.

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.