Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Stock Position Raised by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 738,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,774 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $58,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $530,100,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Nasdaq by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,322 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $837,425,000 after buying an additional 2,716,280 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,318,000 after buying an additional 1,404,348 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $95.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.55 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50-day moving average is $88.18 and its 200-day moving average is $88.06.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total transaction of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $1,203,930.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on NDAQ. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price target (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

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.