Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 11,459 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 288,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,459 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $22,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,064,682,000 after acquiring an additional 376,893 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Nasdaq by 163.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 11.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 9.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after purchasing an additional 932,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $75.86 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.10 and a 12-month high of $84.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.06 and its 200-day moving average is $77.65. The stock has a market cap of $43.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

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

Nasdaq Profile

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.