Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Holdings Cut by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC decreased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 82.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,741 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $88.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.02 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.97. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $77.09 and a one 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.08.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is 32.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $9,706,923.84. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 215,208 shares in the company, valued at $19,530,126. This represents a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.