Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Sells 4,624 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 60.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,055 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,624 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In related news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of MarketAxess 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 sale, the insider now owns 7,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.66% of the company's stock.

MarketAxess Trading Down 1.3 %

MarketAxess stock traded down $3.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $286.45. 186,302 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 408,543. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.83, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.08. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $192.42 and a fifty-two week high of $297.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $259.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.70.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.43% and a net margin of 33.71%. The firm had revenue of $197.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

MarketAxess announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MKTX. Citigroup upped their price target on MarketAxess from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America decreased their price target on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $253.30.

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.