ASO GROUP Ltd Makes New $1.44 Million Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

ASO GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,438,000. Nasdaq comprises approximately 0.6% of ASO GROUP Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $86.74 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.09 and a twelve month high of $101.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $88.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 32.53%.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,104.98. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 138,162 shares of company stock valued at $11,932,913 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.36.

Nasdaq 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.