Portfolio Design Labs LLC Buys Shares of 18,496 Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 18,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,931,637,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth about $530,100,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Nasdaq by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 82.0% in 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. Finally, Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,716,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NDAQ. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $97.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.66 and its 200-day moving average is $87.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The stock has a market cap of $54.53 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 36.15%.

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.