17,911 Shares in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Purchased by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 17,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,412,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Nasdaq by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NDAQ. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 target price on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.30.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $99.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $91.20 and a 200 day moving average of $88.40. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.55 and a 52 week high of $101.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other news, major shareholder Ab Investor bought 56,782 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $85.98 per share, for a total transaction of $4,882,116.36. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,881,214.73. This represents a 9.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319. 0.60% of the stock is currently 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.