Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 9,626 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 44.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,626 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after purchasing an additional 268,481 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Nasdaq by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,683,485,000 after buying an additional 1,258,964 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Nasdaq by 7.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,318,000 after buying an additional 1,404,348 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 11.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,044,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,188,000 after buying an additional 532,775 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,198,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,367,000 after buying an additional 116,542 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total value of $700,222.20. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $89.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.11 and a 200 day moving average of $89.66. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.09 and a 52-week high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend 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.