Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 4.8% in Q4 to own 27,627,767 shares (4.84% of the company), valued at about $2.683 billion, making Nasdaq 0.9% of MFS's portfolio and its 18th largest holding.
• Nasdaq reported a strong quarter with revenue up ~13.4% YoY to $2.12 billion and EPS of $0.96 (beating estimates), and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $105.08.
• CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares for roughly $29.07 million on Feb. 2, part of insider sales totaling 506,451 shares (~$47.14 million) over the past 90 days; insiders now own about 0.70% of the company.

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,258,964 shares during the period. Nasdaq comprises 0.9% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 4.84% of Nasdaq worth $2,683,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 188.4% during the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 995 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,295,000 after buying an additional 1,264 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,180 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $3,089,000. Finally, Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

More Nasdaq News

Here are the key news stories impacting Nasdaq this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/market commentary views NDAQ as a buying opportunity — Seeking Alpha argues Nasdaq’s organic growth and durable revenue mix make the stock attractive after recent weakness, supporting a constructive longer‑term view. Nasdaq Remains A Buy Opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Options trade note: a Barchart piece recommends selling out‑of‑the‑money NDAQ put options as a bullish way to set a lower entry — signals some participants see limited downside from current levels. Shorting Nasdaq, Inc. Put Options Makes Sense
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals: Nasdaq reported a strong quarter on Jan. 29 (EPS beat and double‑digit revenue growth — revenue rose ~13.4% YoY and EPS beat consensus), which underpins analyst projections for mid‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit growth and supports the stock’s valuation metrics over time. (Earnings release and consensus figures reflected in recent analyst coverage.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Index announcement: Nasdaq announced Sandisk Corporation (SNDK) will join the Nasdaq‑100 (NDX) on April 20, replacing Atlassian — a routine index reconstitution item that affects index composition but has limited direct impact on NDAQ’s operating results. Sandisk to Join Nasdaq-100
• Neutral Sentiment: Market short‑interest snapshot: Nasdaq published end‑of‑month short interest across Nasdaq‑listed stocks showing a rise in aggregate short interest (March 31 settlement) to ~16.5 billion shares and a days‑to‑cover of 2.73 versus 2.42 previously — a market‑level datapoint that can increase volatility but isn’t specific to NDAQ alone. End-of-Month Short Interest
• Negative Sentiment: Data anomaly/short‑interest noise: a separate short‑interest update to April 10 shows inconsistent/zeroed figures (reported as a jump but with 0 shares and NaN change) — the noisy reporting and headlines about rising short interest can weigh on sentiment even if the underlying data are unclear.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $83.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $85.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $47.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.44 and a 12-month high of $101.79.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NDAQ. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "market perform" rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $186,542,349.73. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 506,451 shares of company stock valued at $47,142,951 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% 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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