Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 12.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 197,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,385 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $11,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Thoma Bravo L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,239,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,043,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173,981 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,219 shares during the last quarter. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,241,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 283.8% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,154,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,880,000 after buying an additional 853,414 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.4 %

NDAQ stock opened at $74.01 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $74.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average of $69.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.74.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.53%.

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.