Guinness Asset Management LTD Lowers Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Guinness Asset Management LTD reduced its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.4% in the second quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,339,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.5% in the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total value of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,837,694.99. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. UBS Group upgraded Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, October 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.56.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.4%

NDAQ stock opened at $88.44 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $50.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.84 and a twelve month high of $97.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $91.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.20.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. Nasdaq had a net margin of 19.90% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 5th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.57%.

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.