National Pension Service Boosts Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

National Pension Service lifted its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 673,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 68,368 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.12% of Nasdaq worth $65,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $277,329,000 after buying an additional 45,783 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,933,000 after buying an additional 13,160 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 41.7% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 22,685 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $1,245,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $4,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,104.98. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $92.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.98. The business's fifty day moving average price is $88.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.03. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.09 and a 12 month high of $101.79.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

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

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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