Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Acquires 1,657 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $7,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Nasdaq by 5.1% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,550,115,000 after acquiring an additional 993,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq by 2.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 257,465 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Nasdaq by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,954,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,640,000 after acquiring an additional 335,565 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $464,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,201 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Nasdaq by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,850,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,011,000 after acquiring an additional 399,216 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $101.00 target price (up previously from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.63.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.2%

NDAQ stock opened at $96.22 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.33 and a 1-year high of $97.07. The stock has a market cap of $55.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 41.54%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total value of $1,022,715.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 111,035 shares in the company, valued at $9,867,680.45. The trade was a 9.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.17, for a total value of $187,702.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,475.52. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,304 shares of company stock valued at $2,686,833. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq 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.