Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,764,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 63,816 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 4.66% of MarketAxess worth $451,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 82,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,237,000 after purchasing an additional 20,334 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its holdings in MarketAxess by 2.2% during the third quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 37,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,493,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC raised its position in MarketAxess by 42.1% in the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 393,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,911,000 after acquiring an additional 116,607 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in MarketAxess by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Stock Down 0.7 %

MKTX opened at $287.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a PE ratio of 41.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $192.42 and a 52 week high of $297.97.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The company had revenue of $197.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MarketAxess announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total transaction of $142,915.71. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess 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.