MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $198.07, but opened at $209.01. MarketAxess shares last traded at $200.52, with a volume of 49,273 shares.

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 net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKTX. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $255.00 to $251.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MarketAxess currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.00.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total value of $2,676,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at $150,438,302.43. This trade represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in MarketAxess by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,000,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $452,246,000 after purchasing an additional 236,497 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 17.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,959,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $501,907,000 after buying an additional 291,134 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.6% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,338,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,032,000 after buying an additional 8,042 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 14.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,076,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $275,122,000 after buying an additional 139,949 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 440,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,669,000 after acquiring an additional 11,291 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $228.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.31.

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.