Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) EVP Jeremy Skule Sells 1,125 Shares of Stock

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) EVP Jeremy Skule sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.22, for a total transaction of $105,997.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,534,875.56. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $91.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.55 and a 52-week high of $101.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.55. The company has a market capitalization of $51.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 36.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nasdaq

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 7,824.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 51,567,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,064,576,000 after purchasing an additional 50,917,084 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,931,637,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,243,807,000 after buying an additional 378,577 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth $603,631,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 6,073,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,897,000 after buying an additional 2,736,322 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $110.30.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc (NASDAQ:NDAQ) operates financial markets and provides technology, data and analytics services to exchanges, brokers, institutional investors, corporations and other financial institutions. The company is best known for operating the Nasdaq Stock Market, a major U.S. equities exchange and a prominent venue for technology and growth companies.

Nasdaq’s businesses include listings, trading, market data, indexes, clearing and market infrastructure solutions. Through its technology platforms, the company provides exchange operators and financial institutions with systems for trading, surveillance, risk management, regulatory compliance and other market functions.