Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,488,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $424,285,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 80,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,185,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth approximately $274,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 75.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,170,000 after buying an additional 23,244 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 44,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,454,000 after buying an additional 9,130 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 892.3% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 60,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,689,000 after acquiring an additional 54,535 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $74.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.08 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.55. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.10 and a 1 year high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Nasdaq Company 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.