5,457,639 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Acquired by Norges Bank

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Nasdaq, buying 5,457,639 shares valued at about $530.1 million, or roughly 0.96% of the company.
• Nasdaq recently reported better-than-expected earnings, with Q1 EPS of $0.96 versus $0.93 expected and revenue of $2.14 billion, up 13.7% year over year.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.27, while analysts currently have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $107.15.

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,457,639 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $530,100,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.96% of Nasdaq as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $5,317,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 673,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,458,000 after purchasing an additional 68,368 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $314,000. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 30,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $92.52 on Monday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $77.09 and a one year high of $101.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.05.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.53%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq 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.

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