Sei Investments Co. Sells 4,482 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Sei Investments Co. lessened its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 104,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,482 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $23,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,088,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 363,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter worth $539,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth about $46,079,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX opened at $214.88 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $207.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.62. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.84 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.05.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced 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%. Analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is presently 41.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.