Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 242,470 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,240,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 242,470 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $173,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 80,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,185,000 after purchasing an additional 21,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 23,244 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew 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 purchasing an additional 9,130 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $856,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 49.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 164,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,987,000 after purchasing an additional 54,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James upped their target price on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $80.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.90 and a 1 year high of $84.15. The stock has a market cap of $46.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.