Aquatic Capital Management LLC Acquires 14,345 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 136.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,345 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of MarketAxess worth $5,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MKTX. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of MKTX stock traded up $2.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $226.54. 137,386 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 489,953. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $186.84 and a 12 month high of $296.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $212.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.02.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $252.11.

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.