Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Takes $6.77 Million Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 29,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,774,000.

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

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $213.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.36, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $207.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.79. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. Research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research 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 report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.78.

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.