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

AIA Group Ltd raised its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring 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 SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 94.6% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 72 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 39.6% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $252.80.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $1.57 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $203.50. 181,245 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 426,773. The company has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.98. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.34 and a 52-week high of $339.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.61.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 34.29% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The firm had revenue of $197.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares in the company, valued at $15,508,555.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.