Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Short Interest Up 19.9% in January

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, an increase of 19.9% from the January 15th total of 3,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Nasdaq Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NDAQ stock traded down $0.78 on Friday, hitting $80.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,011,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,729,579. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.51 and a 200 day moving average of $75.91. The stock has a market cap of $46.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $54.90 and a 12-month high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Nasdaq will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,075 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.75, for a total value of $950,906.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,072,268.75. This represents a 10.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 80,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,185,000 after buying an additional 21,000 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 75.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 53,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,170,000 after purchasing an additional 23,244 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 44,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,454,000 after purchasing an additional 9,130 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $856,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 49.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 164,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,987,000 after purchasing an additional 54,594 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

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.