Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP Boosts Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 430,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,908 shares during the period. Nasdaq makes up approximately 1.2% of Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP owned 0.08% of Nasdaq worth $41,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,819,727,000 after buying an additional 268,481 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,930,808,000 after purchasing an additional 259,408 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,243,807,000 after purchasing an additional 378,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $88.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.09 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $88.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.36.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Company 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.