Erste Asset Management GmbH Boosts Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 210.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,153 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter worth $42,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $73.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.25. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.96 and a 52 week high of $84.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.14 billion, a PE ratio of 38.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NDAQ. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.