Magnetar Financial LLC Takes $1.75 Million Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 19,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,754,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 33.5% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 6,840,735 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth $406,823,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after buying an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 261.7% in the second quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,690,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,556,000 after buying an additional 1,946,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 4,365.0% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,641,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $146,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604,368 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of Nasdaq 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 92,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.08, for a total transaction of $8,363,027.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,079,323 shares in the company, valued at $187,305,415.84. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 697,340 shares of company stock worth $66,803,072 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.80.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $84.06 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.84 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $90.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.80. The company has a market capitalization of $47.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.95%.

Nasdaq 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.