MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX Shares Purchased by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. by 44.7% during the second quarter, owning approximately $7.97 million worth of shares.
• MarketAxess recently reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.94, with revenues up 11% year-over-year.
• Analysts' ratings on MarketAxess vary, with Zacks downgrading it to "strong sell", while Argus upgraded it to "buy" with a target price of $212.00.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 44.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,029 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. owned about 0.10% of MarketAxess worth $7,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 20.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MarketAxess by 24.4% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,155,000 after buying an additional 3,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. bought a new position in MarketAxess during the first quarter valued at about $1,618,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MKTX. Zacks Research lowered MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday. Argus upgraded MarketAxess from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $212.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Loop Capital set a $164.00 price objective on MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $216.58.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MKTX opened at $171.87 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $179.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.56. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 7.01 and a beta of 0.89. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $161.61 and a 12 month high of $296.68.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive owned 67,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.65% of the company's stock.

About MarketAxess

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.

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