Short Interest in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Increases By 37.7%

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,750,000 shares, an increase of 37.7% from the March 15th total of 3,450,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ traded down $1.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.52. The company had a trading volume of 4,148,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,432,320. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq has a 12 month low of $46.88 and a 12 month high of $64.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 17.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Nasdaq news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Nasdaq by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Mango Five Family Inc. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NDAQ. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays started coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.09.

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.