Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,588 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $8,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Founders Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 94.2% in the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.1 %

NDAQ stock opened at $72.17 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.96 and a twelve month high of $84.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $41.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.59, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.27.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq 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 owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.