Allegheny Financial Group Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Allegheny Financial Group bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $424,285,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth about $110,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $105,481,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,672 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Nasdaq by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,902,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,538 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Nasdaq from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.18.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $78.18 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 company has a market capitalization of $44.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $58.28 and a one year high of $84.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.55.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 49.09%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,116 shares of company stock worth $1,434,818. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Nasdaq

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.