Kentucky Retirement Systems Decreases Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 63.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,346 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Nasdaq were worth $810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,329,000 after acquiring an additional 45,783 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. MKP Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $33,996,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $1,245,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $4,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total transaction of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $94.19 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.55 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $52.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

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.