Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Increases Dividend to $0.27 Per Share

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 24th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.27 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This is a 12.5% increase from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24.

Nasdaq has increased its dividend by an average of 10.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Nasdaq has a payout ratio of 27.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Nasdaq to earn $3.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.6%.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $75.36 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.41. Nasdaq has a 12-month low of $58.28 and a 12-month high of $84.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.25, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.18.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total transaction of $285,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,778.56. This trade represents a 5.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,116 shares of company stock worth $1,434,818. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Nasdaq

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.