Two Sigma Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 20,485 Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,615,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at about $2,931,637,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,930,808,000 after purchasing an additional 259,408 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,243,807,000 after purchasing an additional 378,577 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Nasdaq by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P increased its stake in Nasdaq by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,425,000 after buying an additional 2,716,280 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $99.31 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $91.20 and a 200 day moving average of $88.42. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.55 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $55.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price objective (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Profile

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.