Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Boosts Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 162,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,939 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $15,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at about $45,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 345.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 215,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $88.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $77.09 and a one year high of $101.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.65. The stock has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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. 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 payout ratio 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.