New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 20,334 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.22% of MarketAxess worth $21,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MKTX. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MarketAxess during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2,428.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 405.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 47.4% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. 99.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $262.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Bank of America cut their target price on MarketAxess from $193.00 to $185.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $237.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $253.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at MarketAxess

In other MarketAxess news, insider Christophe Pierre Danie Roupie sold 617 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,409 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,716,146.67. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX traded down $8.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $279.15. 662,049 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,772. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.54 billion, a PE ratio of 41.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $231.68. 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.

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

MarketAxess announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, August 6th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.