Dearborn Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Dearborn Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 19.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 328,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77,649 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $24,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 194.6% during the first 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 during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1,509.5% during the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total transaction of $812,173.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,879 shares in the company, valued at $829,742.55. The trade was a 49.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.17, for a total transaction of $187,702.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,475.52. This represents a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,304 shares of company stock valued at $2,686,833 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $95.83 on Wednesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.33 and a 1 year high of $95.89. The company has a market cap of $54.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $87.42 and a 200-day moving average of $80.87.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $101.00 price target (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.63.

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.