Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Reaches New 52-Week High After Dividend Announcement

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $81.08 and last traded at $80.61, with a volume of 85250 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $80.16.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.87.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $46.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.49, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a net margin of 13.67% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.32, for a total value of $1,027,515.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,955.60. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total value of $935,040.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 114,580 shares in the company, valued at $8,928,073.60. This trade represents a 9.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.6% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial raised its stake in Nasdaq by 1.0% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 13,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 28,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,105,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

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.