350,000 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Purchased by MKP Capital Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• MKP Capital Management bought 350,000 shares of Nasdaq in Q4, a stake worth about $34.0 million and equal to 1.2% of its portfolio.
• Nasdaq reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.96 beating estimates and revenue of $2.14 billion, up 13.7% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share, while analysts remain generally positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $107.15.

MKP Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 350,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $33,996,000. Nasdaq makes up 1.2% of MKP Capital Management L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. MKP Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.06% of Nasdaq at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 1.6% in 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 in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth about $4,872,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth about $1,245,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 129.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 55,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,877,000 after buying an additional 31,081 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Argus raised Nasdaq to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 target price on Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $92.81 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.09 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $88.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.08.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq's payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NDAQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.