Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 148,970 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,199,696 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 148,970 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.21% of Nasdaq worth $92,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock traded down $1.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $81.07. 2,154,658 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,685,481. The stock's fifty day moving average is $79.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.41. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.51 and a fifty-two week high of $84.15. The company has a market cap of $46.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.88.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Company 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.