MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Short Interest Update

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,278,747 shares, a drop of 17.3% from the December 15th total of 2,756,858 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 688,050 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 688,050 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKTX opened at $176.08 on Monday. MarketAxess has a one year low of $156.17 and a one year high of $232.84. The company has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.09.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $208.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.59 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 26.16%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MarketAxess will post 7.79 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on MarketAxess from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MarketAxess from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MarketAxess from $188.00 to $182.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of MarketAxess from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Argus decreased their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $212.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $201.64.

Institutional Trading of MarketAxess

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 66.6% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,681,000 after buying an additional 891,303 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 485.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 758,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,195,000 after buying an additional 628,954 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MarketAxess during the second quarter worth $114,593,000. North Reef Capital Management LP grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 117.0% during the third quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 911,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,804,000 after buying an additional 491,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in MarketAxess by 469.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 486,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,704,000 after buying an additional 400,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess Holdings Inc operates a leading global electronic trading platform specializing in fixed-income securities and related products. The company’s network enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to trade corporate bonds, municipal securities, emerging markets debt, U.S. Treasuries and credit default swaps in an automated, multi-dealer environment. MarketAxess also offers portfolio trading, data analytics, best-execution tools and post-trade services to streamline workflows and enhance price discovery across its marketplace.

In addition to core voice-like trading protocols, MarketAxess provides Open Trading®, an anonymous, all-to-all trading protocol designed to improve liquidity and transaction efficiency.