Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,536 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Key Points

• Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. has acquired a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by purchasing 1,536 shares valued at approximately $332,000.
• Institutional investors hold 99.01% of MarketAxess stock, with notable purchases including Wilson Asset Management increasing their stake by 26.6% and JPMorgan Chase boosting theirs by 2.6%.
• MarketAxess has received mixed ratings from analysts, with price targets ranging from $191 to $295 and a current consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $240.67.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allianz SE acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 49.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 164 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 185.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 57.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the first quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair assumed coverage on MarketAxess in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $204.00 price target (up previously from $202.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $240.67.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $207.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 145,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,564. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's 50-day moving average is $218.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.66.

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

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.