Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 167,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,900 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.47% of MarketAxess worth $27,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MKTX. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $125.73 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.75 and a 52 week high of $210.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $119.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.88.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $233.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.91 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on MarketAxess from $170.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $195.00 to $129.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of MarketAxess from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.18.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.