Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases 13,505 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 29.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,505 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $5,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after purchasing an additional 10,110 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 345.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 4.4% during the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 11,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $91.64 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $76.55 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $87.32 and its 200 day moving average is $88.75.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 23.15% and a return on equity of 17.51%. Nasdaq’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.92 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NDAQ shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 target price (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 215,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,530,126. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. This represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,551 shares of company stock valued at $2,225,990. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Profile

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.