Simmons Bank Takes $2.24 Million Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Simmons Bank purchased a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 23,106 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,244,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after acquiring an additional 268,481 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258,964 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,348 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,044,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,188,000 after acquiring an additional 532,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,198,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,367,000 after acquiring an additional 116,542 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $90.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.09 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.69.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 32.53%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at $167,953,765.44. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. This trade represents a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Loop Capital set a $113.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.15.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.