J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Acquires New Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,715 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $840,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 495.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in MarketAxess by 185.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 160 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Trading Up 0.5 %

MKTX stock traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $219.62. 95,452 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,302. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.84 and a 1-year high of $296.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.58.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. Equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MarketAxess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $252.11.

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.