Argent Trust Co Increases Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $424,285,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $110,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth $105,481,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,902,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120,538 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.7 %

NDAQ stock opened at $71.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $41.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.42. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on NDAQ shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.63.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,116 shares of company stock valued at $1,434,818 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.