Raymond James & Associates Increases Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 39.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,412 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 57,394 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.54% of MarketAxess worth $44,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in MarketAxess by 347.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 155.8% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 39.6% in the third quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in MarketAxess by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MKTX shares. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 12th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $229.00 to $210.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $252.80.

MarketAxess Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:MKTX traded down $5.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $203.82. The company had a trading volume of 505,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 367,799. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $213.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $235.41. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $199.33 and a 12-month high of $303.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.98.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $197.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.70 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 34.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MarketAxess news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total transaction of $442,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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