22,900 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 22,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,944,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Nasdaq by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 10,110 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 345.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $78.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.46. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on NDAQ shares. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.79.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,104.98. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company 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.