Van Den Berg Boosts MarketAxess Stake as Electronic Platforms Compete for Credit Trading Flow

What happened

According to a SEC filing dated February 17, 2026, Van Den Berg Management I, Inc acquired an additional 16,382 shares of MarketAxess (NASDAQ:MKTX) during the fourth quarter of 2025. The fund’s total position in MarketAxess was valued at $5.51 million at quarter-end, a $3.07 million increase from the previous quarter, driven by both share accumulation and price changes.

What else to know

The buy brings MarketAxess to 1.26% of Van Den Berg Management I, Inc’s 13F reportable AUM as of December 31, 2025.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NYSEMKT: PHYS: $28.23 million (6.5% of AUM)
• NYSE: COHR: $22.12 million (5.1% of AUM)
• NYSE: SA: $20.93 million (4.8% of AUM)
• NYSE: LUMN: $18.60 million (4.3% of AUM)
• NASDAQ: GOOGL: $18.14 million (4.2% of AUM)

As of February 13, 2026, shares of MarketAxess were priced at $179.36, down 4.8% over the past year, underperforming the S&P 500 by 16.60 percentage points.

Company/Etf overview

Company/Etf snapshot

MarketAxess operates at scale as a leading provider of electronic trading solutions for the global fixed income market. The company provides an electronic trading platform for institutional investors and broker-dealers, facilitating transactions in U.S. investment-grade bonds, high-yield bonds, Treasuries, municipal bonds, emerging market debt, Eurobonds, and other fixed income securities.

MarketAxess generates revenue primarily through transaction fees on bond trades, supplemented by market data products, execution services, connectivity solutions, and technology services for trading optimization.

MarketAxess serves institutional investors and broker-dealer clients globally, with a focus on fixed income market participants seeking liquidity and efficient execution. Its established platform and diversified product suite position it competitively within the electronic capital markets infrastructure segment.

What this transaction means for investors

Electronic bond trading sits at the center of one of the longest-running structural shifts in financial markets. Corporate bonds historically traded over the counter through dealer networks, where investors requested quotes from multiple dealers by phone or messaging rather than through centralized electronic markets. That transition created the opportunity for companies like MarketAxess to build venues where institutional investors can transact directly with dealers and, increasingly, with one another.

As electronic trading expanded, MarketAxess became a leading platform in U.S. corporate credit. Bond market volatility tied to interest-rate cycles has changed how liquidity forms, and trading activity is now spread across multiple electronic venues. Other platforms, such as Tradeweb and Bloomberg, have expanded their presence in credit markets. MarketAxess earns most of its revenue from transaction fees on bond trades executed through its network, but growth now depends more on defending its share of electronic credit trading rather than simply benefiting from the shift away from dealer-brokered transactions.

Investors now need to ask whether MarketAxess will remain a main hub for institutional credit liquidity as electronic trading evolves. The company’s long-term earnings depend on how much corporate bond trading moves to electronic platforms and how much of that happens on its network. If MarketAxess keeps its strong position in institutional credit trading, it will remain a key part of the bond market’s infrastructure.

Eric Trie has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Coherent. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.