MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH has significantly reduced its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 61.0%, now holding shares worth $746,000 after selling 5,397 shares in the first quarter.
• MarketAxess's stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price of $240.67, despite recent price adjustments by firms such as Barclays and Morgan Stanley.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed $1.87 EPS, surpassing estimates, although revenue declined by 0.8% year-over-year.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH decreased its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 61.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,397 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. FMR LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,300,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $520,013,000 after buying an additional 341,493 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,298,409 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $519,533,000 after purchasing an additional 236,118 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth $46,079,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 25,960.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 183,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,693,000 after acquiring an additional 182,761 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 285.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 186,569 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,364,000 after acquiring an additional 138,191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MKTX traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $207.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 428,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 574,629. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 36.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50-day moving average is $217.52 and its 200-day moving average is $214.29.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 26.57%. The firm had revenue of $208.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKTX. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on MarketAxess from $283.00 to $274.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen cut MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 price objective (up from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $240.67.

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.