Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,884,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 339,234 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,258,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,683 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,277,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,407,000 after buying an additional 42,960 shares during the last quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $73.00 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.88 and a 12-month high of $74.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $67.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.45% and a net margin of 14.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.