Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 20,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,198,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Nasdaq by 214.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,280,846 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 16.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,787,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,564,000 after purchasing an additional 681,238 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Nasdaq by 5.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,363,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,452,000 after purchasing an additional 171,959 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 16.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,654,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,967,000 after purchasing an additional 378,936 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 8.2% in the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,497,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,352,000 after buying an additional 189,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NDAQ opened at $61.20 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.24. The company has a market capitalization of $35.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $46.88 and a 1-year high of $64.25.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The business’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,879,785.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Edward Jones began coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays began coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.09.

Nasdaq 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.