Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 41.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,941 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 74.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $60.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.88 and a 1 year high of $64.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.34 and its 200 day moving average is $56.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 15.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,511,710.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,010,436 shares of company stock worth $1,798,647,360. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NDAQ. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com cut Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Edward Jones assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.92.

Nasdaq Company 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.