LGT Capital Partners LTD. Acquires 730,200 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. raised its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 136.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,264,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 730,200 shares during the quarter. Nasdaq makes up approximately 2.2% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $73,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Nasdaq by 214.0% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,224,000 after buying an additional 4,280,846 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $235,218,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,147,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,502,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,276,599 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the 1st quarter worth about $68,961,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Nasdaq by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,153,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,829,000 after purchasing an additional 775,233 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $63.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.74. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $46.88 and a one year high of $63.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Citigroup upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.