Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,931,637,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $530,100,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 62.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $589,897,000 after buying an additional 2,736,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,621,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $837,425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,716,280 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at $11,881,214.73. This trade represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total transaction of $1,060,813.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at $19,751,846.35. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $97.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $54.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.44, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.15%.

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.