AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Sells 91,026 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc cut its Nasdaq stake by 79.7% in the first quarter, selling 91,026 shares and leaving it with 23,200 shares valued at about $1.97 million.
• Nasdaq reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, earning $0.96 per share on revenue of $2.14 billion, with revenue up 13.7% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.27, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $107.36.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lessened its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 79.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 91,026 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 32.8% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 77,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,613,000 after buying an additional 19,249 shares during the last quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 39.5% in the first quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 120.1% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 5,568 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 52.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 833,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,919,000 after buying an additional 285,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 30,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $82.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.95. 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 $46.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 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.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost 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 yield of 1.5%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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