Nomura Holdings Inc. Takes $219,000 Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 316.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 11,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,367,000 after purchasing an additional 8,771 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 9,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 4,502 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 96,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,253,000 after purchasing an additional 21,041 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 176,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,584,000 after purchasing an additional 5,859 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 181,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,196,000 after purchasing an additional 30,733 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $236.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.73.

MarketAxess Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $194.41 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $204.33 and a 200-day moving average of $229.52. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $192.54 and a 1-year high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $210.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.99 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.82% and a net margin of 33.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.17 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is 43.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.48, for a total transaction of $99,740.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,895.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

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.