LGT Capital Partners LTD. Lowers Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• LGT Capital Partners cut its Nasdaq stake by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 94,436 shares and leaving it with 385,232 shares valued at about $37.4 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 raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.27, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a $107.15 price target.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lessened its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 385,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 94,436 shares during the period. Nasdaq comprises approximately 1.9% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD. owned 0.07% of Nasdaq worth $37,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Nasdaq by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Nasdaq by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 8,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $86.78 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.10. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $77.09 and a one year high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $49.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is 32.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NDAQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at $167,953,765.44. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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