SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 521,749 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 340.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 674,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 521,749 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $57,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after purchasing an additional 268,481 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,930,808,000 after purchasing an additional 259,408 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 3.0% during 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 position in Nasdaq by 62.6% during 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.4%

Nasdaq stock opened at $82.61 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $46.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.09 and a twelve month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.79.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock valued at $11,932,913 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.