Norges Bank Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,457,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $530,100,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after purchasing an additional 268,481 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,807,000 after purchasing an additional 378,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,044,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,188,000 after purchasing an additional 532,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Loop Capital set a $113.00 target price on Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $92.52 on Monday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.09 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $52.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.19 and a 200-day moving average of $90.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.53%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,808,798.70. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 over the last ninety days. 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.