Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 3,403 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 48.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,403 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 27,409.2% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 33,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 32,891 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 7,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $2,945,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,809,610. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total value of $465,534.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ opened at $61.50 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $35.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.36. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.88 and a 12 month high of $64.25.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 19.28% and a net margin of 17.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.71%.

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.