Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Acquires 31,100 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 21.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 172,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,100 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $15,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the second quarter worth $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total value of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total transaction of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 604,500 shares of company stock valued at $58,440,045. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.13.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $79.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $101.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.33.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The company’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.95%.

Nasdaq Profile

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.