Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Purchased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,064,682,000 after acquiring an additional 376,893 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,018,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,783,000 after purchasing an additional 257,465 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,672 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,954,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $537,640,000 after purchasing an additional 335,565 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $464,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,201 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,616 shares of company stock valued at $1,813,598. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $86.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.41 billion, a PE ratio of 44.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.28 and a 52-week high of $86.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid 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 yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NDAQ. Barclays lowered their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Nasdaq Company 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.