HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 263,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,659 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $23,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,989,636,000 after acquiring an additional 2,820,339 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,274,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,438,897,000 after purchasing an additional 6,840,735 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,456,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,366,000 after purchasing an additional 89,391 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth $406,823,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 55.7% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,535,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $316,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,264,975 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $28,917,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,541,400.17. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 604,500 shares of company stock worth $58,440,045 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.4%

NDAQ opened at $82.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.87. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.13.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.