NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd Makes New $2.14 Million Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 27,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,138,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Nasdaq by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,652,000 after acquiring an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Nasdaq by 22.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 345.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 4.4% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (up from $101.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $110.30.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Nasdaq stock opened at $96.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.99. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.55 and a 12 month high of $101.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.04 billion, a PE ratio of 28.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors 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 yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq 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 transaction of $1,060,813.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,751,846.35. The trade was a 5.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq 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.