Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,984 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $7,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,064,682,000 after purchasing an additional 376,893 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,018,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,783,000 after buying an additional 257,465 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,401,000 after buying an additional 1,225,672 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,954,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $537,640,000 after acquiring an additional 335,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $424,285,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Trading Down 0.1 %

NDAQ opened at $76.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.52. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $58.28 and a one year high of $84.15. The stock has a market cap of $43.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Nasdaq from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.