Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Bought by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 300,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,097 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $29,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.15.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 531,002 shares of company stock worth $49,368,941 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.7%

Nasdaq stock opened at $91.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $51.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.65. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.54 and a 52 week high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.53%.

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.