Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Increases Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,647 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $12,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 6.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,275,902,000 after buying an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,274,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,438,897,000 after buying an additional 6,840,735 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,456,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,020,366,000 after acquiring an additional 89,391 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at approximately $406,823,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 55.7% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,535,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $316,515,000 after buying an additional 1,264,975 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.13.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total transaction of $28,917,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $185,541,400.17. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total transaction of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,568,656.74. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 604,500 shares of company stock worth $58,440,045. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $79.92 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.84 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The company has a market cap of $45.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.51.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

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.