Savant Capital LLC Grows Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 8,277.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,367 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC owned 0.32% of MarketAxess worth $27,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $201.37 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.22. The company has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.02. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 20.23%. As a group, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be paid 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 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. MarketAxess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,183,871. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $257.33.

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.