Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 7,894 Shares of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. $MKTX

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) by 351.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,894 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in MarketAxess were worth $1,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in MarketAxess by 151.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in MarketAxess by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of MarketAxess by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MarketAxess by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MarketAxess in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $406,000. Institutional investors own 99.01% of the company’s stock.

MarketAxess Price Performance

NASDAQ MKTX opened at $112.95 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. MarketAxess Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $108.75 and a 12-month high of $214.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.88.

MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $233.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.91 million. MarketAxess had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 35.53%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. Analysts forecast that MarketAxess Holdings Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “neutral” rating and set a $134.00 target price (down from $189.00) on shares of MarketAxess in a report on Thursday, June 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on MarketAxess from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded MarketAxess from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on MarketAxess from $175.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.18.

MarketAxess Profile

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.