Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Bought by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 259.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 595,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 429,938 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $50,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Trading Down 4.9%

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $77.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.09 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.73.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.87 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the subject of several research reports. Loop Capital set a $113.00 target price on Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares in the company, valued at $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 138,162 shares of company stock valued at $11,932,913 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.