Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its Nasdaq stake by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 169,423 shares and ending with 868,905 shares valued at about $84.4 million.
• Nasdaq reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.96 versus $0.93 expected and revenue of $2.14 billion, up 13.7% year over year.
• The company boosted its dividend to $0.31 per quarter from $0.27, implying an annualized payout of $1.24 and a yield of about 1.3%.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 868,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 169,423 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.15% of Nasdaq worth $84,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,933,000 after buying an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 41.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,819,000 after buying an additional 22,685 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,275,902,000 after buying an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 129.2% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 55,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,877,000 after buying an additional 31,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 605,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,561,000 after buying an additional 19,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $896,104.98. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $92.60 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.09 and a twelve month high of $101.79. The stock's 50 day moving average is $87.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $107.15.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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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