Capital World Investors Acquires 124,096 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Capital World Investors boosted its Nasdaq stake by 83.9% in Q3, buying 124,096 shares to hold 271,932 shares valued at about $24.05 million.
• Corporate insiders sold heavily: CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares (≈$29.07M) and insiders disposed of 697,340 shares (~$66.8M) in the last quarter, leaving insiders with 0.70% ownership.
• Nasdaq beat quarterly expectations (EPS $0.96 vs. $0.92; revenue $2.12B vs. $1.37B est.), and declared a $0.27 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.08, ~1.3% yield).

Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 83.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 271,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 124,096 shares during the period. Capital World Investors' holdings in Nasdaq were worth $24,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Front Row Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total transaction of $450,045.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 697,340 shares of company stock valued at $66,803,072 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $103.80.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $84.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average is $90.85 and its 200-day moving average is $90.80. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $64.84 and a one year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Nasdaq's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NDAQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.