MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Stake Boosted by North Reef Capital Management LP

North Reef Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX - Free Report) by 69.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 271,318 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 111,318 shares during the period. MarketAxess comprises about 2.8% of North Reef Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. North Reef Capital Management LP owned about 0.72% of MarketAxess worth $61,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in MarketAxess during the fourth quarter worth $1,088,000. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in MarketAxess by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 363,224 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $82,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in MarketAxess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $539,000. Finally, Taika Capital LP purchased a new position in MarketAxess in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,689,000. 99.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKTX traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $219.00. 402,418 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 491,537. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.84 and a fifty-two week high of $296.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.99. The firm has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.12.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. As a group, analysts predict that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MKTX shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $220.00 to $213.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on MarketAxess from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $252.11.

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.