Two Sigma Securities LLC Invests $1.61 Million in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 20,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,615,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,931,637,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $603,631,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $530,100,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at $377,818,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 price target (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price objective (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.30.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $99.31 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.42. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.55 and a 12-month high of $101.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $55.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 36.15%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the purchase, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company 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.