Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,597,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 52,048 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $229,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Front Row Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total value of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at $186,542,349.73. The trade was a 13.48% 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 John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 604,500 shares of company stock valued at $58,440,045. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price target (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.80.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $88.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.27 billion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $91.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.95%.

About Nasdaq

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world’s leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.