MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) shares 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 trading hands.

The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MKTX. UBS Group upped their price objective on MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $255.00 to $251.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.67, for a total transaction of $2,676,700.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,438,302.43. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,183,871 over the last 90 days. 2.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MarketAxess

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 15,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,503,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,079,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 98.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.6 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $227.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $246.99. The company has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.02.

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.