First Trust Advisors LP Grows Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 701,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,359 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.12% of Nasdaq worth $54,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,576,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,064,682,000 after purchasing an additional 376,893 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,018,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,783,000 after buying an additional 257,465 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,401,000 after buying an additional 1,225,672 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $424,285,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,902,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120,538 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NDAQ shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Nasdaq from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,116 shares of company stock worth $1,434,818. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $72.69 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a PE ratio of 37.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week high of $84.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.46 and a 200-day moving average of $77.39.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

About Nasdaq

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.