Strs Ohio Raises Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Strs Ohio grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 709,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 102,586 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $68,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848,406 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at $110,259,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 129.0% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,159,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $191,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,580 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.15.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $91.32 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.86 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.49 and a 200 day moving average of $89.65. The firm has a market cap of $51.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 531,002 shares of company stock valued at $49,368,941. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.