Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 2,547 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 13.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,547 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,274,000 after acquiring an additional 3,096 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 61.1% during the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 17,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 6,764 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,268,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $172,098,000 after purchasing an additional 27,622 shares in the last quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.9% during the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 861,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,349,000 after purchasing an additional 32,004 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $87.61 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.45. The company has a market cap of $50.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.84 and a twelve month high of $97.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total value of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,837,694.99. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total transaction of $812,173.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,742.55. This represents a 49.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $101.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.31.

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.