Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Acquired by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 57.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 144,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 52,950 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $12,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NDAQ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $530,100,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake 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 valued at $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $589,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,322 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P lifted 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 position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.54.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $84.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.99. 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 $76.55 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.28.

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 was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were 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 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.35%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares in the company, valued at $12,808,798.70. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.