Adena Friedman Sells 300,000 Shares of Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Stock

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) CEO Adena Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $88.49 on Thursday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.84 and a fifty-two week high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.67.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly 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. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. Nasdaq’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $99.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target (up previously from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nasdaq

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,652,000 after purchasing an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Nasdaq by 345.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 10.8% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 47,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,278,000 after buying an additional 4,676 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.