Bensler LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Bensler LLC lowered its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 929 shares during the quarter. Bensler LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $3,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of NDAQ. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $110,867,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after acquiring an additional 5,176 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 7,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 46,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,578,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $653,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at $4,450,783.80. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,616 shares of company stock worth $1,813,598 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $86.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.61. The stock has a market cap of $49.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.26, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.28 and a 1-year high of $87.50.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 49.09%.

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.