Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 64,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,963 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $5,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Nasdaq by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,329,000 after buying an additional 45,783 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,245,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,872,000. Finally, MKP Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,996,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 24,551 shares of company stock worth $2,225,990 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.92.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $89.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $50.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.55 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.89.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.35%.

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.