QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,190 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $3,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 112.9% in the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 71.5% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. The trade was a 5.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.15.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $89.20 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.66. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.09 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $50.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 32.53%.

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.