285,608 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Bought by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 285,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $22,512,000. Commerce Bank owned approximately 0.05% of Nasdaq as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,931,637,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $530,100,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 62.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after buying an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 82.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,897,000 after buying an additional 2,736,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 46.0% in 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 buying an additional 2,716,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, 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 bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $1,203,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $98.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.55 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $54.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.04.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 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. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 36.15%.

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.