BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 21,791 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. by 63.6%, selling 21,791 shares and now owning 12,450 shares worth approximately $944,000.
• Nasdaq reported an EPS of $0.85 for the recent quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $1.31 billion, up 12.7% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with an upcoming payment date on September 26th, representing an annualized yield of 1.1%.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S cut its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 63.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,791 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the first quarter worth approximately $241,614,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $464,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,201 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 40.8% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,494,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $416,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,057 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 7,367.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,129,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $85,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 5.1% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,550,115,000 after purchasing an additional 993,553 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Nasdaq stock traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $94.85. 1,091,093 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,266,381. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $91.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $97.63. The company has a market cap of $54.42 billion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.26 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. Nasdaq's revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total value of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,837,694.99. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total transaction of $1,022,715.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 111,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,867,680.45. This trade represents a 9.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,409 shares of company stock worth $2,223,599. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NDAQ shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.06.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.