Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,209,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 129,319 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $214,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,819,000 after buying an additional 22,685 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 605,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,561,000 after purchasing an additional 19,078 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848,406 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 162.1% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 25,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth about $4,872,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,104.98. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on NDAQ. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $89.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.09 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 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.