Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Trims Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its Nasdaq stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 92,557 shares and ending with about 2.1 million shares valued at roughly $204 million.
• Nasdaq reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.96 beating estimates and revenue of $2.14 billion topping expectations; revenue rose 13.7% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.27, while analysts remain mostly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and target price of $107.15.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,095,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 92,557 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned approximately 0.37% of Nasdaq worth $203,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Western Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 104.0% during the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,799 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,466 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 61,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,005,000 after purchasing an additional 13,942 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC MO purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at about $240,000. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 9,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $950,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.8%

Nasdaq stock opened at $90.21 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.15 and a 200 day moving average of $89.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.09 and a 12-month high of $101.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is 37.35%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,530,126. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. This trade represents a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.15.

Nasdaq 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.

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