Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Stake Lifted by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $15,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savvy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth $304,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 162.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 25,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 15,739 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter worth approximately $269,000. ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 21,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $496,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports 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 note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.13.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $79.01 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.84 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 34.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total transaction of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 604,500 shares of company stock worth $58,440,045. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.