Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ is Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Mcrae Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 269,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,882 shares during the period. Nasdaq makes up about 5.3% of Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $26,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $530,100,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 6.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,648,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,275,902,000 after purchasing an additional 3,848,406 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,619,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,348 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,627,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,683,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at approximately $110,259,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $86.81 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.36 and a 200 day moving average of $90.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.09 and a 12-month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,941. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.