Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 166,804 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 125.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 299,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 166,804 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.05% of Nasdaq worth $23,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 163.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after acquiring an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 9.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after purchasing an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $627,596,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 13,532.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $78.83 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.90 and a twelve month high of $83.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.29 and its 200-day moving average is $73.31.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NDAQ shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total value of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 215,563 shares in the company, valued at $16,320,274.73. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. This represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Profile

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.