Bryan Everard Smith Sells 3,500 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $82.86 on Thursday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.90 and a 12 month high of $83.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.16, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NDAQ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James increased their price target on Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Nasdaq from $81.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Nasdaq by 163.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,835,235,000 after acquiring an additional 24,084,154 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 13,532.3% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,040,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,658 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 11.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,310,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,616 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,867,000. Finally, Harris Associates L P lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $627,596,000 after buying an additional 1,096,090 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.