Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 5,524 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 70.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,524 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $1,088,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $1,966,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $982,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 22.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,265,000 after purchasing an additional 10,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 111.4% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $192.79 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $212.53 and its 200-day moving average is $243.34. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.84 and a 12-month high of $296.68. The firm has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.02.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of 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, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.