GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires Shares of 8,365 Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 8,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,224,000 after buying an additional 4,280,846 shares in the last quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 136.5% in the fourth quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 1,264,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,547,000 after purchasing an additional 730,200 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,787,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,564,000 after purchasing an additional 681,238 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 230.9% during the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 795,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,675,000 after purchasing an additional 555,412 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,070,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,603,000 after buying an additional 533,086 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $61.22. 983,366 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,078,020. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.88 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.32.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 17.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Citigroup increased their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.09.

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.