Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,660,590 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 731,682 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.46% of Nasdaq worth $205,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $424,285,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $110,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $105,481,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $802,401,000 after buying an additional 1,225,672 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,902,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $301,680,000 after buying an additional 1,120,538 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818 in the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $73.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 439,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,827,104. The company has a market cap of $42.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.10 and a 12 month high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $76.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.46.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Nasdaq's payout ratio is 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.56.

About Nasdaq

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.