New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 77 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of MarketAxess worth $7,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 39.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 8.6% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 1,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $455,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 3,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $191.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $218.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.32. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $188.88 and a 52 week high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 19th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. This is a positive change from MarketAxess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. MarketAxess’s payout ratio is currently 40.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MarketAxess news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $256.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.