KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Has $22.79 Million Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 234,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $22,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total value of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 506,451 shares of company stock worth $47,142,951 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NDAQ opened at $86.37 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.98 and a 52 week high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NDAQ. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.25.

Nasdaq Company 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.