Equitable Holdings Inc. Acquires Shares of 6,716 Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 6,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $529,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the second quarter worth about $905,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $657,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,412,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $16,453,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,751,846.35. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $99.31 on Monday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $55.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $91.20 and a 200 day moving average of $88.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $111.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

About Nasdaq

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.