MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) Shares Sold by Castle Hook Partners LP

Castle Hook Partners LP lessened its holdings in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 96.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 161,380 shares during the quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in MarketAxess by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in MarketAxess by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of MarketAxess by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $673,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

Shares of MKTX opened at $226.80 on Tuesday. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $186.84 and a one year high of $296.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $213.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.30. The company has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.89.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 20.23% and a net margin of 33.56%. Analysts anticipate that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MKTX. Morgan Stanley raised shares of MarketAxess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of MarketAxess from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MarketAxess from $251.00 to $225.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on MarketAxess from $189.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on MarketAxess from $225.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.11.

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.