Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 454,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,770 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Nasdaq were worth $40,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 33.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,274,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,438,897,000 after acquiring an additional 6,840,735 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at $406,823,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 55,800,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,989,636,000 after purchasing an additional 2,820,339 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 261.7% during the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,690,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,556,000 after buying an additional 1,946,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 4,365.0% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,641,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,749,000 after buying an additional 1,604,368 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $28,917,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,541,400.17. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NDAQ. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.13.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $96.81 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.84 and a twelve month high of $101.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.71. The stock has a market cap of $55.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

About Nasdaq

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.