Morse Asset Management Inc Purchases 7,119 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Morse Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 64.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,119 shares during the quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,556,000 after buying an additional 6,190 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $308,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 187,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,200,000 after buying an additional 14,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $91.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.09 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $86.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

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.