Flossbach Von Storch SE Acquires 21,042 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Flossbach Von Storch SE raised its stake in Nasdaq by 1.9% in Q4, adding 21,042 shares to hold 1,147,947 shares worth about $111.5 million (0.20% of the company).
• CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 Nasdaq shares on Feb. 2 for roughly $29.1 million (a 13.48% reduction in her holdings), and insiders have sold 506,451 shares (~$47.14 million) in the past 90 days.
• Nasdaq beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.96 vs. $0.93) with revenue of $2.14 billion (up 13.7% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.31 (annualized $1.24, ~1.4% yield).

Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,147,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 21,042 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE owned 0.20% of Nasdaq worth $111,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,275,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848,406 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after buying an additional 1,404,348 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Nasdaq by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,683,485,000 after buying an additional 1,258,964 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth about $110,259,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 129.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,159,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $191,013,000 after buying an additional 1,216,580 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NDAQ. Barclays upped their target price on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total value of $29,073,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 506,451 shares of company stock valued at $47,142,951 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $90.43 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.11 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $85.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.61. The stock has a market cap of $51.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.Nasdaq's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.53%.

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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