Hsbc Holdings PLC Decreases Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its stake in MarketAxess by 99.8% in the fourth quarter, selling about 1.8 million shares and leaving it with 2,844 shares worth roughly $517,000.
• MarketAxess continues to be heavily institutionally owned, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding about 99.01% of the company’s stock.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.25 EPS versus $2.15 expected, while revenue rose 11.9% year over year; however, analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a consensus price target of $163.18.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 99.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,795,922 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in MarketAxess were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the second quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Stance Capital LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $170.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $195.00 to $129.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America raised shares of MarketAxess from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on MarketAxess in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $163.18.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $115.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $123.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.74. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $108.75 and a one year high of $216.18.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $233.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $231.91 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 35.53% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company's network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.

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