Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $14.68 Million Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 151,127 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,898 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $14,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Washington Trust Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $896,104.98. This trade represents a 11.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 138,162 shares of company stock worth $11,932,913. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price target on Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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 restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.15.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ opened at $87.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.36 billion, a PE ratio of 26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.52 and a 200-day moving average of $90.06. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.09 and a 52-week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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 was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. 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 dividend yield of 1.4%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.53%.

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.