Arwa LLC Makes New $1.79 Million Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Arwa LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 18,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,794,000. Nasdaq accounts for 1.0% of Arwa LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,819,727,000 after purchasing an additional 268,481 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,930,808,000 after purchasing an additional 259,408 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,807,000 after purchasing an additional 378,577 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of 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. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 138,162 shares of company stock valued at $11,932,913. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $82.24 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.09 and a 52-week high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.36.

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.