Eventide Asset Management LLC Invests $12.31 Million in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Eventide Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 168,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,306,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $83.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $75.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.56. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.62 and a 12-month high of $83.50.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total transaction of $1,027,515.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total value of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 215,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,320,274.73. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock worth $3,811,808 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nasdaq 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.