Blue Jean Financial LLC Invests $1.91 Million in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Blue Jean Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 19,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,905,000. Nasdaq makes up approximately 1.5% of Blue Jean Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bollard Group LLC increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 73,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,101,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $2,569,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, AlTi Global Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth approximately $322,000. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $88.98 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $77.09 and a one year high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on 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 Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on Nasdaq in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.