Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) EVP Bradley Peterson Sells 13,000 Shares of Stock

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) EVP Bradley Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at $11,881,214.73. This trade represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $95.96 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $53.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.37. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.55 and a 12-month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after purchasing an additional 268,481 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,683,485,000 after buying an additional 1,258,964 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Nasdaq by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,930,808,000 after buying an additional 259,408 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Nasdaq by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,243,807,000 after buying an additional 378,577 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $900,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.