Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,019,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,782 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $86,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after buying an additional 268,481 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,683,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258,964 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,930,808,000 after acquiring an additional 259,408 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,807,000 after acquiring an additional 378,577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor acquired 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $88.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,620,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,808,497. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.55 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $49.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average is $87.20 and its 200-day moving average is $89.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The company’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 37.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $114.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price objective (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.92.

About Nasdaq

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.