AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 187,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,188,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,064,682,000 after buying an additional 376,893 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,018,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $849,783,000 after acquiring an additional 257,465 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $802,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,672 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,954,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $537,640,000 after purchasing an additional 335,565 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $464,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,201 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,616 shares of company stock valued at $1,813,598 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.87. 2,784,373 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,940,517. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.28 and a 52 week high of $84.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.15 billion, a PE ratio of 43.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. This is an increase from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.09%.

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.