BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Grows Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,021 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Nasdaq by 214.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,224,000 after buying an additional 4,280,846 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $239,347,000. LGT Capital Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 136.5% in the 4th quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 1,264,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,547,000 after acquiring an additional 730,200 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,787,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,564,000 after purchasing an additional 681,238 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,070,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,603,000 after acquiring an additional 533,086 shares during 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 brokerages have commented on NDAQ. Argus upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Edward Jones began coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,010,436 shares of company stock valued at $1,798,647,360. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $62.45 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.92. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.88 and a 12 month high of $64.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $35.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.98% and a return on equity of 17.00%. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.53%.

Nasdaq Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.