Portfolio Design Labs LLC Makes New $1.46 Million Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 18,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,329,000 after purchasing an additional 45,783 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,933,000 after buying an additional 13,160 shares during the period. MKP Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,996,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,245,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $4,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NDAQ. Zacks Research raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.30.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total transaction of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,751,846.35. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $97.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $76.55 and a one year high of $101.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.44, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.15%.

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.