Forsta AP Fonden Invests $1.95 Million in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

Forsta AP Fonden bought a new stake in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,947,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in MarketAxess during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 2,428.6% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MarketAxess during the third quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 555.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MarketAxess Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKTX traded down $4.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $289.42. 286,839 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,517. The business has a 50 day moving average of $264.54 and a 200-day moving average of $229.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.91 and a current ratio of 2.91. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $192.42 and a 12-month high of $297.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.72, a PEG ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 1.08.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MKTX. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on MarketAxess from $218.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $204.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded MarketAxess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $253.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,716,146.67. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.