Arwa LLC Makes New Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Arwa LLC opened a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter, buying 18,470 shares valued at about $1.79 million. The stake represents roughly 1% of Arwa’s portfolio.
• Other institutional investors also added to Nasdaq, and hedge funds/institutions now own 72.47% of the company’s shares, highlighting continued institutional interest.
• Nasdaq reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.96 and revenue of $2.14 billion, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.31 per share from $0.27.

Arwa LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,470 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,794,000. Nasdaq makes up approximately 1.0% of Arwa LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Nasdaq by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $277,329,000 after buying an additional 45,783 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 13,160 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,245,000. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,872,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 129.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 55,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,877,000 after acquiring an additional 31,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.36.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $82.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.09 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The stock's fifty day moving average is $88.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.95.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company 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 positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $9,706,923.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock valued at $11,932,913 in the last ninety days. 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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