Leonteq Securities AG Purchases Shares of 8,064 Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 8,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $783,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after buying an additional 3,848,406 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after buying an additional 1,404,348 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.8% in 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. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $110,259,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 129.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,159,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $191,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,580 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was 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 approximately $19,530,126. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,808,798.70. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $91.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $87.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.86. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $77.09 and a one year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.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 company earned $0.79 EPS. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 37.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NDAQ. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.15.

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.