Norges Bank Acquires New Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,488,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $424,285,000. Norges Bank owned 0.95% of Nasdaq at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Crestmont Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NDAQ. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.88.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.9 %

NDAQ stock opened at $74.91 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $84.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.55.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.