22,992 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Purchased by VCI Wealth Management LLC

VCI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 22,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,233,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Nasdaq by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,044,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $446,188,000 after purchasing an additional 532,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,198,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,367,000 after purchasing an additional 116,542 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,542,349.73. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 506,451 shares of company stock valued at $47,142,951 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NDAQ traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $88.61. The stock had a trading volume of 2,817,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,882,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.88 and a 52-week high of $101.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $85.03 and its 200 day moving average is $89.61. The firm has a market cap of $50.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.