Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. Trims Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 69.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 225,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 513,225 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $17,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after buying an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth about $424,285,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at about $110,867,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $105,481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $74.91 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.63. The stock has a market cap of $43.08 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.10 and a 1-year high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.