Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Holdings Lifted by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,500 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $18,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Nasdaq by 41.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,819,000 after acquiring an additional 22,685 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Nasdaq by 3.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 605,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,561,000 after acquiring an additional 19,078 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 6.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in Nasdaq by 162.1% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 25,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $91.30 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $86.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.65. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $77.09 and a one year high of $101.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $9,706,923.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, January 12th. Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.15.

About Nasdaq

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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