Vista Investment Partners II LLC Buys New Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Vista Investment Partners II bought a new stake of 31,805 shares in Nasdaq (≈$3.09M), representing 1.3% of its portfolio and its 23rd-largest position.
• Nasdaq beat Q4 expectations with EPS of $0.96 versus $0.92 and revenue of $2.12B (analysts ~$1.37B), a 13.4% year-over-year revenue increase.
• CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares (~$29.07M) in February, part of insider sales totaling 506,451 shares (~$47.14M) over the quarter.

Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 31,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,089,000. Nasdaq comprises 1.3% of Vista Investment Partners II LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 4,365.0% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,641,123 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $146,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604,368 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,348 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at approximately $110,259,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 129.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,159,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $191,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,580 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $84.21 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.00 and a 52-week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average price is $85.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.65. The firm has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Nasdaq's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 506,451 shares of company stock worth $47,142,951 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $105.08.

Nasdaq 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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