Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Acquires 22,385 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 197,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,385 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $11,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 117,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after buying an additional 3,251 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 44,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,570,000 after purchasing an additional 9,096 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at about $259,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 103,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,044,000 after buying an additional 9,730 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $74.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.74. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.88 and a 1 year high of $74.88. The stock has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a PE ratio of 38.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.