ABN Amro Investment Solutions Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• ABN Amro Investment Solutions initiated a new position in Nasdaq, buying 18,177 shares in the fourth quarter worth about $1.77 million.
• Nasdaq reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.96 topping estimates and revenue of $2.14 billion, up 13.7% year over year.
• The company also raised its dividend to $0.31 per share quarterly, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $107.15.

ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 18,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,766,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Nasdaq by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,933,000 after acquiring an additional 13,160 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Nasdaq by 41.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,819,000 after acquiring an additional 22,685 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $1,245,000. National Pension Service grew its position in Nasdaq by 3.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 605,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,561,000 after acquiring an additional 19,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 6.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,275,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,848,406 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. The trade was 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. Insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Loop Capital set a $113.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Nasdaq to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $91.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.09 and a 12 month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This is an increase 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%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

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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