American Century Companies Inc. Increases Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 4.5% during the first quarter, owning 2.48 million shares valued at $188 million.
• Analysts have recently raised price targets for Nasdaq, with Barclays setting a new target of $109 and UBS upgrading the rating to “buy” with a target of $115.
• Nasdaq announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, scheduled for payment on September 26th, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.1%.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,483,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 106,606 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.43% of Nasdaq worth $188,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,274,000 after buying an additional 3,096 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 61.1% during the 1st quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 17,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 6,764 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,268,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $172,098,000 after buying an additional 27,622 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,749,000. Finally, FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 1st quarter worth approximately $222,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $101.00 price target (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.06.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Nasdaq stock traded up $0.6340 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.4640. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,076,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,300,810. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $97.63. The company has a market capitalization of $54.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.33, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $91.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.54.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at $8,837,694.99. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $664,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 211,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,552,957.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,409 shares of company stock valued at $2,887,839 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

About Nasdaq

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.