Bank of Nova Scotia Raises Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 381,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 100,276 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.07% of Nasdaq worth $33,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848,406 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,044,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,188,000 after buying an additional 532,775 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at about $406,823,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,535,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $316,515,000 after buying an additional 1,264,975 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.1% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,809,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,496,000 after buying an additional 85,761 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total transaction of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total value of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,542,349.73. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 697,340 shares of company stock worth $66,803,072 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $85.85 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.84 and a 52-week high of $101.79.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NDAQ. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.80.

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.