SEB Asset Management AB Buys New Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 103,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,787,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $530,100,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 82.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,322 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $837,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Nasdaq from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $108.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $90.24 on Wednesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.55 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.58. The company has a market cap of $51.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

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.