Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $1.26 Billion Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,884,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 339,234 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 3.63% of Nasdaq worth $1,258,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 94.8% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 89.3% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 164.4% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Nasdaq from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $53.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.08.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.6 %

NDAQ opened at $73.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.05. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.88 and a 52 week high of $74.17. The stock has a market cap of $42.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

About Nasdaq

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.