Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 993,553 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 993,553 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 3.56% of Nasdaq worth $1,550,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $424,285,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,650,201 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $802,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,672 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,902,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $301,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7,367.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,129,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $664,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 211,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,552,957.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.17, for a total transaction of $187,702.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 94,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,475.52. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,613 shares of company stock worth $1,874,659 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $88.66. 759,179 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,070,045. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.21 and a twelve month high of $90.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $84.84 and a 200 day moving average of $79.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 49.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $96.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.31.

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.