Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Reduces Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $7,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after buying an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after purchasing an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 14.6% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $627,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $79.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.64. The firm has a market cap of $45.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.51 and a 1 year high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. On average, equities analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Company 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.