Bessemer Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,628,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 299,016 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $255,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,652,000 after buying an additional 10,110 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 345.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.8%

Nasdaq stock opened at $90.93 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.09 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $51.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.69.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.