Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Bought by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 869,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,243 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $73,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Nasdaq by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 10,110 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 345.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 4.4% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total transaction of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.73.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NDAQ opened at $94.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $87.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.36. The stock has a market cap of $52.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.55 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 36.15%.

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.