Versor Investments LP Takes $468,000 Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 28.3% during the second quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 23,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,353,000 after acquiring an additional 5,282 shares during the period. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter valued at $315,000. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 3.9% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 74.0% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 863 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new position in MarketAxess in the second quarter valued at about $235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $161.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $175.36 and its 200-day moving average is $200.07. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $156.17 and a one year high of $284.23.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $219.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.05 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 26.62%.MarketAxess’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MKTX. Piper Sandler set a $180.00 target price on MarketAxess in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Barclays cut their target price on MarketAxess from $200.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered MarketAxess from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on MarketAxess from $274.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised MarketAxess from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $216.58.

Insider Transactions at MarketAxess

In other news, Director Stephen P. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.59, for a total value of $298,544.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 43,208 shares in the company, valued at $8,062,180.72. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CRO Kevin M. Mcpherson sold 1,494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.32, for a total value of $276,868.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 67,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,542,642.92. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MarketAxess Company 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.