Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,160 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $6,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Nasdaq by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley cut Nasdaq from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.50.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $81.90 on Monday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.28 and a fifty-two week high of $84.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $47.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.66, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.09%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.