Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 48.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 165,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 154,175 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $16,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Front Row Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.80.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $83.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $88.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.18. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.84 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. Analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 34.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 92,840 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.08, for a total value of $8,363,027.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,079,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,305,415.84. The trade was a 4.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 697,340 shares of company stock valued at $66,803,072 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.