North Dakota State Investment Board Invests $1.37 Million in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 14,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,370,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NDAQ. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 3.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in Nasdaq by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Nasdaq by 22.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 345.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 4.4% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.7%

Nasdaq stock opened at $91.98 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.09 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $87.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.Nasdaq’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 37.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Nasdaq

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.