ProShare Advisors LLC Has $6.86 Million Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,160 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $6,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at $424,285,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $464,676,000 after buying an additional 1,650,201 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $110,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth about $105,481,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,672 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $81.90 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.28 and a 12-month high of $84.15.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 49.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Nasdaq from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.50.

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.