Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 646 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in Nasdaq by 13,532.3% during 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 buying an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% during 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 buying an additional 1,811,616 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth about $110,867,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth about $105,481,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $72.17 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.96 and a twelve month high of $84.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50 day moving average is $79.50 and its 200 day moving average is $77.27. The company has a market cap of $41.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.