Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 43.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,341 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth about $530,100,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Nasdaq by 62.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,897,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736,322 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 46.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position 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 in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $94.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $52.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.55 and a twelve month high of $101.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.12.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 36.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at $19,751,846.35. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Company 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.