Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys New Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought 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 (SEC). The fund bought 49,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,913,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,652,000 after buying an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 345.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 4.4% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $99.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $55.53 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.55 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.33.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $1,203,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,881,214.73. The trade was a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor acquired 56,782 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NDAQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays restated 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. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

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.