Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 2,091 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,091 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $6,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 163.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after buying an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 11.2% during 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 buying an additional 1,811,616 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 9.5% during 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 buying an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 14.6% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,723,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,360,000 after buying an additional 330,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $75.55 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.10 and a 1-year high of $84.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.17 and a 200 day moving average of $77.44. The firm has a market cap of $43.45 billion, a PE ratio of 39.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.88.

About Nasdaq

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.