FourThought Financial Partners LLC Has $2.52 Million Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 815.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,563 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $2,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Nasdaq by 214.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,281,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,224,000 after buying an additional 4,280,846 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 16.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,787,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,564,000 after purchasing an additional 681,238 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 5.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,363,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $163,452,000 after buying an additional 171,959 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,654,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,967,000 after buying an additional 378,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,625,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $152,644,000 after purchasing an additional 127,978 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NDAQ traded up $0.80 on Friday, hitting $60.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,889,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,357,425. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.82. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $46.88 and a fifty-two week high of $64.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 15.98%. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total value of $181,826.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,511,710.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.89, for a total transaction of $181,826.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,511,710.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,010,436 shares of company stock worth $1,798,647,360 over the last ninety days. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Nasdaq from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.92.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.