Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Has $160.67 Million Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,654,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,927 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.29% of Nasdaq worth $160,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total transaction of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock valued at $11,932,913. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $88.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $50.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $88.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.09 and a 1 year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for 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%. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.36.

Nasdaq 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.