Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 376,893 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 376,893 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.15% of Nasdaq worth $4,064,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Founders Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 106.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on NDAQ. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a report on Monday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.88.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $77.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.20 and a 200-day moving average of $77.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results 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, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.