AXQ Capital LP Increases Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

AXQ Capital LP increased its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 370.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,547 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after purchasing an additional 268,481 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Nasdaq by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,807,000 after purchasing an additional 378,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $530,100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.3%

Nasdaq stock opened at $92.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.09 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.08.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.