IFM Investors Pty Ltd Purchases New Shares in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,550,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MKTX. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 40.0% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,134,000 after buying an additional 204,660 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 5.1% in the first quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 34,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth approximately $68,000. Bangor Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the first quarter worth $1,486,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 1st quarter valued at $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ MKTX traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $201.79. The stock had a trading volume of 253,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 334,279. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.64. The company has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.98. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $199.34 and a 52-week high of $322.25.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.11. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 34.29%. The business had revenue of $197.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $196.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MKTX. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $263.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $229.00 to $210.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MarketAxess from $278.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America started coverage on MarketAxess in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $199.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $250.00 to $237.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 2,000 shares of MarketAxess stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.26, for a total transaction of $442,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 70,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,508,555.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.