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

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 738,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,774 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.13% of Nasdaq worth $58,179,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NDAQ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $530,100,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 62.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,322 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716,280 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Ab Investor acquired 56,782 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $1,203,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $95.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $53.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 36.15%.

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.