Edgestream Partners L.P. Purchases New Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 2,176.6% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,848,000 after purchasing an additional 20,504 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth about $2,657,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,342,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 708.2% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 17,562 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,970,000 after acquiring an additional 15,389 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday. Barclays decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $237.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MarketAxess from $223.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $240.67.

MarketAxess Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $1.59 on Friday, hitting $208.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 368,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 498,992. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $219.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $215.15. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.05. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.57% and a return on equity of 19.93%. The business had revenue of $208.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $211.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.92 earnings per share. MarketAxess's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

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.