MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX): Insiders Aren’t Crazy About It

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers of late.

In the financial world, there are many gauges investors can use to monitor their holdings. A pair of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best hedge fund managers can beat the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. There are a variety of reasons for a bullish insider to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, it’s important to take a glance at the key action encompassing MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX).

How have hedgies been trading MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)?

At Q1’s end, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 13% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw had the largest position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX), worth close to $15.5 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, with a $13.8 million position; the fund has less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Israel Englander’s Millennium Management, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Mike Vranos’s Ellington.

As aggregate interest increased, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, established the most outsized position in MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX). Millennium Management had 4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Mike Vranos’s Ellington also made a $1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new MKTX position is Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

What have insiders been doing with MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX)?

Bullish insider trading is most useful when the company in focus has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX). These stocks are LPL Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LPLA), Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE:PJC), E TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC), BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:BGCP), and Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR). This group of stocks belong to the investment brokerage – national industry and their market caps match MKTX’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned research, everyday investors should always keep an eye on hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX) applies perfectly to this mantra.

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