Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Buys 77,285 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,362,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,285 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $105,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 106.6% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $76.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.77, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.20 and its 200 day moving average is $77.53. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

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.