Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Stock Holdings Lowered by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 14.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,229,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 204,074 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $108,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,652,000 after buying an additional 10,110 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 2,584 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 345.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 75.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 92,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.08, for a total value of $8,363,027.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,079,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,305,415.84. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 697,340 shares of company stock valued at $66,803,072 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $85.85 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.84 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.04.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.