11,894 Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Bought by Taika Capital LP

Taika Capital LP bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,689,000. MarketAxess accounts for about 2.0% of Taika Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $208.94 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.84 and a twelve month high of $296.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.22.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MKTX. UBS Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.78.

MarketAxess Company 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.