Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock Holdings Increased by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,425 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,324 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $8,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,064,682,000 after buying an additional 376,893 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,018,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $849,783,000 after acquiring an additional 257,465 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $802,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,672 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,954,334 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $537,640,000 after acquiring an additional 335,565 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $464,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 61,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 211,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,552,957.15. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $89.52. 3,767,615 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,049,753. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $82.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.12. The company has a market cap of $51.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.55 and a 52 week high of $89.75.

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. Nasdaq had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 49.09%.

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.