Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Makes New $1.94 Million Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 25,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Nasdaq by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. The trade was a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock opened at $76.21 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.49. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.28 and a 12-month high of $84.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $43.75 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NDAQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.18.

Nasdaq Company 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.