Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,229,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 204,074 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.22% of Nasdaq worth $108,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Front Row Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the third 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. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $29,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 697,340 shares of company stock valued at $66,803,072 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.80.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $85.85 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $90.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.62. 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 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.04.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

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.