Raymond James & Associates Boosts Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Raymond James & Associates increased its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 39.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 201,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 57,394 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in MarketAxess were worth $44,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in MarketAxess by 146.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,265,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $270,422,000 after buying an additional 752,111 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,535,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 385.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 545,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,554,000 after purchasing an additional 433,217 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,134,000 after purchasing an additional 204,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 7,385.0% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 159,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,733,000 after purchasing an additional 157,448 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Down 2.5 %

MKTX stock traded down $5.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $203.82. The company had a trading volume of 505,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 367,799. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $213.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.41. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $199.33 and a fifty-two week high of $303.85.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $229.00 to $210.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total transaction of $442,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,508,555.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.