Aurora Investment Counsel Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 30,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,628,000. Nasdaq accounts for approximately 1.5% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,855,235 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,329,000 after acquiring an additional 45,783 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 61,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,245,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,872,000. Finally, MKP Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,996,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NDAQ. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Nasdaq from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.42.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $91.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $87.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $51.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at $896,104.98. This represents a 11.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.