D.A. Davidson & CO. Grows Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 152.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,330 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $2,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Nasdaq by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, REAP Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 112.9% during the third quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.15.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,104.98. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 531,002 shares of company stock valued at $49,368,941. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.6%

NDAQ stock opened at $91.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.86 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.35%.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.