Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV Invests $2.73 Million in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Lighthouse Financial Services bought 28,096 shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter, worth about $2.73 million, adding to already heavy institutional ownership of the stock.
• Nasdaq’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.96 versus $0.93 expected and revenue of $2.14 billion, up 13.7% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.27, while analysts remain generally positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a $107.15 price target.

Lighthouse Financial Services Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 28,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,729,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 6.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,275,902,000 after buying an additional 3,848,406 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,735,318,000 after buying an additional 1,404,348 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.8% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,258,964 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth about $110,259,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 129.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,159,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $191,013,000 after buying an additional 1,216,580 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $88.91 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.66. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.09 and a 52-week high of $101.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. This trade represents a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941 over the last ninety 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.

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