Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ is Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Mcrae Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 269,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,882 shares during the period. Nasdaq comprises 5.3% of Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Mcrae Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $26,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 159,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,489,000 after purchasing an additional 5,448 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 31,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 5,785 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $448,000. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 45,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Cohen Tal sold 15,518 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.75, for a total transaction of $1,408,258.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 215,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,530,126. This trade represents a 6.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 231,002 shares of company stock worth $20,295,941 over the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $86.81 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.09 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.07. The company has a market cap of $49.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

Nasdaq Company 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.