Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys 2,328 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 51.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,328 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Thoma Bravo L.P. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $4,166,454,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,065,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,620,131,000 after acquiring an additional 745,965 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,280,846 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,787,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,564,000 after purchasing an additional 681,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $239,347,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Edward Jones started coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,511,710.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $60.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.31 and a 200-day moving average of $58.80. The company has a market capitalization of $34.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.94. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.88 and a 1 year high of $64.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 15.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.53%.

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.