Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 66,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,609 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $5,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in Nasdaq by 72.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 194.6% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Nasdaq by 1,509.5% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Nasdaq in the first quarter worth about $30,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total transaction of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at $8,837,694.99. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total value of $812,173.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,742.55. This trade represents a 49.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $89.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.53 and a 200 day moving average of $86.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $51.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.98. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.84 and a twelve month high of $97.63.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 41.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. UBS Group raised shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.50.

Nasdaq 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.