Allstate Corp Makes New $244,000 Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

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

MarketAxess Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $210.83 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $207.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.18. The stock has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. 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 data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MKTX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.44.

MarketAxess Profile

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.