Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 25.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,795 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. American International Group Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 10.6% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 102,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,485,000 after buying an additional 9,887 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 6,408.3% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $352,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Nasdaq by 12.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 517,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,624,000 after purchasing an additional 57,900 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.2 %

Nasdaq stock opened at $81.07 on Friday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.62 and a 12 month high of $81.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $46.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.55, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Nasdaq’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Argus raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Nasdaq from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total value of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 215,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,320,274.73. The trade was a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,928,073.60. This trade represents a 9.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq 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.