Norges Bank Makes New $406.82 Million Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,549,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $406,823,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.79% of Nasdaq at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 72.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% during the second quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.3% during the second quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq by 3.4% in the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.40, for a total transaction of $179,767.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 84,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,779.60. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays set a $109.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.00.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $90.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.84 and a 1 year high of $97.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $87.97 and a 200 day moving average of $89.32.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. Nasdaq had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.57%.

About Nasdaq

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.