Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 26.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 332,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 121,408 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Nasdaq were worth $32,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 77,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,819,000 after purchasing an additional 22,685 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 605,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,561,000 after purchasing an additional 19,078 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,275,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 129.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 55,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,877,000 after purchasing an additional 31,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NDAQ. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.15.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $91.06 on Monday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.09 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.71. The company has a market capitalization of $51.50 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 32.53%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 215,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,808,798.70. This trade represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.