Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) CEO Adena Friedman Sells 113,611 Shares of Stock

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) CEO Adena Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,965,751 shares in the company, valued at $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $86.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $49.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.84 and a 52-week high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NDAQ shares. Argus raised Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price (up from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.71.

Institutional Trading of Nasdaq

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NDAQ. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.