Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Boosts Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 200,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,316 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $19,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 345.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. This trade represents a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 531,002 shares of company stock worth $49,368,941. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on NDAQ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Argus upgraded shares of Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $91.91 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $75.54 and a one year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 32.53%.

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.