Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 101,829 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,367,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 101,829 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $400,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKTX. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 347.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MKTX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target 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. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $229.00 to $210.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $252.80.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ MKTX traded up $2.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $204.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 510,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 418,002. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.64. The company has a market capitalization of $7.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.98. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $199.34 and a 52 week high of $322.25.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $196.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. MarketAxess’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares in the company, valued at $15,508,555.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.