LGT Capital Partners LTD. Sells 247,070 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lowered its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,019,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 247,070 shares during the period. Nasdaq accounts for approximately 3.0% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $78,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $2,082,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,730,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $213,060,000 after acquiring an additional 782,812 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 65.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,723,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,360,000 after acquiring an additional 330,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 161.8% during the fourth quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 20,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,576,000 after acquiring an additional 12,596 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $74.66 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.96 and a 1 year high of $84.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $42.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.89, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.22.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted 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, equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.