Advisors Preferred LLC Sells 13,524 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Advisors Preferred LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 26.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,524 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $3,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 3.0% in the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 85,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,221,000 after acquiring an additional 2,478 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 1st quarter worth $7,294,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 28,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 3,431 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 43.4% in the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 8,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,104.98. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,808,798.70. This represents a 5.18% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,551 shares of company stock worth $2,225,990. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $104.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $114.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.42.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $88.01 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.55 and a twelve month high of $101.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.82. The firm has a market cap of $49.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.35%.

About Nasdaq

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.