Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Stock Holdings Boosted by Dark Forest Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 600.3% in the first quarter, holding a total of 49,852 shares valued at approximately $3.78 million.
• In the same period, other institutional investors also significantly boosted their holdings, with 72.47% of the stock now owned by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Nasdaq reported earnings of $0.85 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and showing a 12.7% revenue increase year-over-year.

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 600.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 42,733 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $3,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 194.6% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1,509.5% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 338 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter worth $26,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter worth $34,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $101.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.06.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ stock traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $93.48. 3,771,371 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,386,171. 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 52 week low of $64.84 and a 52 week high of $97.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 41.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total transaction of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at $8,837,694.99. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total transaction of $812,173.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at $829,742.55. This represents a 49.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,409 shares of company stock worth $2,223,599 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.