AlphaQuest LLC Boosts Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 90.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,465 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 200.0% in 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 period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 992.9% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered MarketAxess from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on MarketAxess from $194.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $201.64.

MarketAxess Price Performance

MarketAxess stock opened at $169.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.97. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.17 and a 12 month high of $232.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.01.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. MarketAxess had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The business had revenue of $208.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

MarketAxess Profile

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.