Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $8.45 Million Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 305.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,056 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $8,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MKTX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 151.0% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 8.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in MarketAxess by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in MarketAxess by 200.0% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth $406,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX stock opened at $164.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 2.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.04. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.17 and a 1 year high of $232.84.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.68 earnings per share 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MKTX. Weiss Ratings raised MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Argus downgraded MarketAxess from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.40.

MarketAxess 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.