MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $217.31, but opened at $207.00. MarketAxess shares last traded at $205.44, with a volume of 227,020 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MKTX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on MarketAxess from $258.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $330.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $260.00 to $256.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $255.00 to $251.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MarketAxess currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $267.00.

MarketAxess Trading Up 1.3 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $246.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.02.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a net margin of 34.32% and a return on equity of 20.93%. On average, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, Chairman Richard M. Mcvey sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chairman now owns 592,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,883,880.75. This trade represents a 3.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Scott Pintoff sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.57, for a total value of $72,171.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 8,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,212.14. The trade was a 3.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,300 shares of company stock worth $8,183,871. Insiders own 2.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MKTX. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in MarketAxess by 495.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MarketAxess by 13,900.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in MarketAxess in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

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.