Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys New Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 208,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $16,453,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 1.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 45,783 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. MKP Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,996,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,245,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,872,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total transaction of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $99.31 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.20 and a 200 day moving average of $88.40. The company has a market capitalization of $55.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.55 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $110.30.

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.