Stephens Inc. AR Makes New Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Stephens Inc. AR bought a new stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 6,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 77.6% during the first quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 1st quarter valued at about $358,000. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA now owns 12,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 4,376 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 15,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Nasdaq by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 5,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $88.08. 2,620,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,808,497. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.55 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The firm has a market cap of $49.81 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 37.35%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 7,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.82, for a total transaction of $700,222.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 141,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,808,798.70. This trade represents a 5.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total value of $1,408,258.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,530,126. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,551 shares of company stock worth $2,225,990. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $116.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Nasdaq from $104.00 to $98.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.92.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.