Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,324,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 559,712 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,483,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,219 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 67.6% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,022,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,879,000 after buying an additional 815,946 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Nasdaq by 435.6% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 645,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,386,000 after buying an additional 524,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shapiro Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq by 34.4% during the second quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 1,887,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $113,723,000 after buying an additional 483,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $88.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total value of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 215,563 shares in the company, valued at $16,320,274.73. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $80.08 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.62 and a 12 month high of $81.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $74.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.82.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 57.49%.

Nasdaq 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.