Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,199,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,970 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $92,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 163.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 11.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 9.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after acquiring an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P raised its position in Nasdaq by 14.6% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $627,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 13,532.3% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,040,000 after acquiring an additional 3,970,658 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $82.59 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $54.90 and a one year high of $84.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.47 billion, a PE ratio of 43.02, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. As a group, analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.