Groupama Asset Managment Cuts Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Groupama Asset Managment lessened its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 32.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 67,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,781 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $5,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the second quarter worth $406,823,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,275,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 261.7% during the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,690,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,556,000 after acquiring an additional 1,946,479 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4,365.0% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,641,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.2%

Nasdaq stock opened at $85.44 on Thursday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $64.84 and a one year high of $101.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $89.80 and its 200 day moving average is $90.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.Nasdaq’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total transaction of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 697,340 shares of company stock valued at $66,803,072 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.80.

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.