IRON Financial LLC Makes New Investment in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

IRON Financial LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MarketAxess by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,539,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,272,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its position in MarketAxess by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 2,425,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,878,000 after purchasing an additional 564,820 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in MarketAxess by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,828,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,580,000 after purchasing an additional 170,095 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,330,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,881,000 after buying an additional 204,960 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of MarketAxess by 53.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 820,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $164,447,000 after buying an additional 285,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MKTX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.30.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

Shares of MKTX stock traded down $4.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $289.19. The stock had a trading volume of 85,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,554. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $264.54 and its 200 day moving average is $229.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a PE ratio of 41.72, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.08. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.42 and a twelve month high of $297.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.91.

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

MarketAxess declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, August 6th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.63, for a total value of $142,915.71. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,409 shares in the company, valued at $1,716,146.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.