Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 238,421 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,660,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 238,421 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.99% of Nasdaq worth $500,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Front Row Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the third quarter worth $29,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NDAQ. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.80.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $85.53 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.69. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The company has a market cap of $48.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 34.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,568,656.74. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 92,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.08, for a total transaction of $8,363,027.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,079,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,305,415.84. This trade represents a 4.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 697,340 shares of company stock worth $66,803,072. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq 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.