Alamar Capital Management LLC Sells 262 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Alamar Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 262 shares during the quarter. MarketAxess accounts for about 2.0% of Alamar Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Alamar Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $3,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 1.1% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,323,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,585,000 after buying an additional 24,606 shares in the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 1.4% during the first quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 680,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,118,000 after buying an additional 9,100 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in MarketAxess by 329.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 618,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,904,000 after purchasing an additional 474,776 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 64.8% in the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 402,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,083,000 after purchasing an additional 158,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 2.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 372,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,583,000 after purchasing an additional 9,244 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MKTX. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Argus upgraded MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $212.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $164.00 price target on MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $216.58.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.2%

MKTX opened at $171.53 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $161.61 and a 12-month high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a PEG ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $179.51 and a 200-day moving average of $203.31.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.The company had revenue of $219.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.05 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total value of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,062,180.72. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

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.