169,776 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Purchased by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 169,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,382,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. George Kaiser Family Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $441,000. Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth $223,000. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth $22,520,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth $439,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth $10,226,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $98.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $76.55 and a one year high of $101.79. The company’s 50-day moving average is $89.85 and its 200 day moving average is $87.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. 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 (DPR) is 36.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

About Nasdaq

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.