Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,240,998 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 242,470 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.39% of Nasdaq worth $173,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at about $90,000. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 54,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,010,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 96.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,328,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $96,993,000 after purchasing an additional 55,248 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ traded down $1.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $81.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,154,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,685,481. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.41. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.51 and a 1 year high of $84.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.22, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.88.

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.