NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 15,514 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 16.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,514 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $5,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq by 13,532.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $292,040,000 after buying an additional 3,970,658 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in Nasdaq by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 67.6% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,022,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $121,879,000 after acquiring an additional 815,946 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 435.6% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 645,359 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,386,000 after acquiring an additional 524,874 shares during the period. Finally, Shapiro Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 34.4% during the 2nd quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 1,887,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,723,000 after acquiring an additional 483,361 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $80.84. 1,156,515 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,854,302. The company's 50-day moving average is $76.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $46.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.50, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.62 and a 1 year high of $83.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James raised shares of Nasdaq from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $82.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 5,742 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $444,086.28. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 205,821 shares in the company, valued at $15,918,196.14. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.