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

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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 traded.

The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.93% and a net margin of 34.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MKTX. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $265.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total transaction of $72,171.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. This trade represents a 3.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.75, for a total value of $5,435,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. The trade was a 3.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,183,871 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in MarketAxess by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess in the third quarter worth about $261,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of MarketAxess by 16.8% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 9,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 7,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 128.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $227.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.02.

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.