Natixis Advisors L.P. Raises Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 625,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,145 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned 0.11% of Nasdaq worth $36,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 5.6% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 93,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,418,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 93,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,554,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 74.9% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ traded up $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.87. 2,889,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,357,425. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.82. The stock has a market cap of $35.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.04, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.94. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $64.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.69 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 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 46.32%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total transaction of $181,826.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,511,710.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,010,436 shares of company stock worth $1,798,647,360 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Nasdaq from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.92.

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.