Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 495.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MKTX shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.78.

MarketAxess Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $217.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $208.03 and a 200-day moving average of $241.12.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

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.