MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Bought by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $5,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantum Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at $525,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter valued at $674,000. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 71.8% in the fourth quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 3,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $919,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MKTX traded up $1.57 on Thursday, hitting $203.50. The stock had a trading volume of 181,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 426,773. The stock has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $217.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.61. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.34 and a 1-year high of $339.43.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $197.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $196.70 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.29% and a return on equity of 21.76%. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total value of $442,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $229.00 to $210.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.80.

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.