Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 460.7%, owning 36,369 shares worth approximately $2.76 million following the purchase of 29,883 additional shares.
• Nasdaq reported $1.31 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.26 billion, and achieved an EPS of $0.85, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.07.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.1%, scheduled for distribution on September 26th.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 460.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,369 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 29,883 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $2,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $241,614,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,494,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $416,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,057 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,114,205 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Nasdaq by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,550,115,000 after purchasing an additional 993,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq by 104.5% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,655,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $125,574,000 after purchasing an additional 845,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NDAQ. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group upgraded Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total transaction of $201,006.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,551 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total value of $1,022,715.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 111,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,867,680.45. The trade was a 9.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,409 shares of company stock valued at $2,223,599 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $93.95. 2,947,784 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,243,518. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.84 and a twelve month high of $97.63. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $93.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.06.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 41.54%.

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.