Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman bought the sliding stock

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Nasdaq

— the stock holding company — has seen its shares lose about a sixth of their value this year, and CEO Adina T. Friedman has just bought a raft of shares.

The slide of Nasdaq stock (Stock ticker: NDAQ) may seem even more troubling because shares of the tech giants that trade on the stock exchange of the same name have soared in 2023.

apple

(AAPL) and

nvidia

(NVDA) posted double- and triple-digit gains, respectively, this year. Meanwhile, Nasdaq shares remain near a 52-week low of $48.65 on July 7.

In June, Nasdaq agreed to Adenza Acquisition, a maker of software used by banks and brokerages, for $10.5 billion in cash and stock. This deal was expected to expire Six to nine months. a Strong second quarter report In mid-July it did not provide a sustained boost for Nasdaq stock.

Friedman paid $510,000 on July 31 for 10,000 shares of Nasdaq, at an average price of $51 per share. She now owns 1,672,318 shares of Nasdaq in a personal account, and 147,000 shares through trusts, according to A model made by Friedman With the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Friedman declined to comment. It’s her first open market purchase since she was born Appointed CEO on January 1, 2017. Most of its holdings are restricted stock grants and performance share units.

Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau wrote in July that with Adenza, Nasdaq could deliver higher recurring revenue and more stable earnings. He maintained an Outperform rating for the Nasdaq stock, with a $65 price target.

The Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature that covers stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—called insiders—as well as major shareholders, politicians, and other notable people. Because of their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at edward.lin@barrons.com and follow up @tweet.