Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 169,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,382,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% during 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. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth approximately $2,931,637,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Nasdaq by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,930,808,000 after purchasing an additional 259,408 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,243,807,000 after purchasing an additional 378,577 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Nasdaq by 62.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after buying an additional 3,567,843 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor acquired 56,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.30.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $98.22 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.55 and a 1-year 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 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.