8,299 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Acquired by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after buying an additional 268,481 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,930,808,000 after acquiring an additional 259,408 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,243,807,000 after acquiring an additional 378,577 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Nasdaq by 62.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,567,843 shares during the period. Finally, Harris Associates L P boosted its position in Nasdaq by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $837,425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,716,280 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ opened at $96.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $54.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.97.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,751,846.35. This 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, major shareholder Ab Investor acquired 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NDAQ. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.