Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 279 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $132,000 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 NDAQ. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 12.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 2,171 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 8.4% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 33.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 35,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after buying an additional 8,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NDAQ. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ opened at $80.04 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.51 and a 52-week high of $84.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.74. The company has a market cap of $46.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.