HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 263,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,659 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $23,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 3.0% in the second quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 2.3% in the second quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 3.4% during the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $82.13 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $94.24 and its 200 day moving average is $91.87. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.84 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $46.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.58, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $28,917,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,541,400.17. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 604,500 shares of company stock valued at $58,440,045 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.