Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 19,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,547,000. Nasdaq makes up about 1.1% of Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NDAQ. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at $2,931,637,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at about $603,631,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at about $530,100,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth about $377,818,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the purchase, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bradley Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 128,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $96.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $92.89 and a 200 day moving average of $88.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $76.55 and a 1-year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.15%.

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.