Prudential PLC Reduces Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Prudential PLC cut its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 88.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 87,018 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at $45,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $107.15.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. This trade represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $87.28 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $88.52 and a 200 day moving average of $90.09. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.09 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.