Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 65.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,062 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.13% of MarketAxess worth $10,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 49.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 323,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,784,000 after buying an additional 107,315 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in MarketAxess by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 141,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,303,000 after acquiring an additional 21,089 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 309.0% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 17,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,527,000 after purchasing an additional 13,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 11.3% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 $1,997,212.14. This represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,183,871 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $220.50 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $240.76 and its 200 day moving average is $246.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.03.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. The business’s revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $261.30.

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.