Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 20,600 Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,198,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 74.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $61.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.52 and a 200-day moving average of $56.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $35.20 billion, a PE ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.93. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $64.25.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.71%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.09.

Nasdaq Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.