Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 73,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,651,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $99.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.20 and a 200 day moving average of $88.40. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 36.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $1,203,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,751,846.35. This represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

Nasdaq 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.