Aberdeen Group plc Decreases Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Aberdeen Group plc reduced its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 305 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth $280,000. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth $376,000. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 60,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,697 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 210.8% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,764,000 after acquiring an additional 11,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 1st quarter worth $543,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total transaction of $298,544.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total transaction of $276,868.08. Following the transaction, the executive owned 67,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. This trade represents a 2.16% 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.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $171.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 0.89. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $161.61 and a one year high of $296.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $180.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.37.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.62% and a return on equity of 20.41%. The business had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $180.00 price target on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $200.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

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.