SPC Financial Inc. Trims Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

SPC Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 142.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 6,510 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total value of $812,173.95. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,742.55. This represents a 49.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total value of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at $8,837,694.99. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $88.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.94. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $97.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%.The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.25.

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.