MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Bought by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in MarketAxess by 555.6% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in MarketAxess by 160.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.5 %

MKTX stock opened at $220.50 on Friday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $192.42 and a 52-week high of $296.68. The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $246.22.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $206.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.17 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%. MarketAxess’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MKTX shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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, Barclays cut their price target on MarketAxess from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $261.30.

Insider Activity at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 10,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 562,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,438,302.43. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,183,871. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About MarketAxess

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.