Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Position Increased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 297,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,257 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.05% of Nasdaq worth $23,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,064,682,000 after acquiring an additional 376,893 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 9.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,181,000 after purchasing an additional 932,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P increased its stake in Nasdaq by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.9 %

NDAQ stock opened at $74.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.59. 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. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.10 and a 52-week high of $84.15.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NDAQ shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on 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 Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

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.