Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Purchases 1,602 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 32.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thoma Bravo L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,043,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173,981 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 28.4% during the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866,219 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 2.0% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,767,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,270,000 after acquiring an additional 94,122 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 26.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,878,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $181,609,000 after purchasing an additional 602,040 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $74.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.08 and a 200-day moving average of $63.59. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Nasdaq from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.