MQS Management LLC Makes New Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $402,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 194.6% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on NDAQ shares. Oppenheimer set a $96.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.69.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $89.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.75. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.21 and a 52 week high of $90.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.33 billion, a PE ratio of 40.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.17, for a total transaction of $187,702.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 94,656 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,475.52. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $664,240.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 211,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,552,957.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,613 shares of company stock valued at $1,874,659. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.