Comerica Bank Boosts Stock Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Comerica Bank lifted its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,455 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $16,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 100.0% in 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 in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $9,706,923.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,953,765.44. This trade represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 1,323 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.82, for a total value of $117,508.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,089 shares in the company, valued at $896,104.98. The trade was a 11.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 507,774 shares of company stock worth $47,260,460 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $91.31 on Wednesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.11 and a 1-year high of $101.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.03. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 17.51% and a net margin of 23.15%.The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Nasdaq’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 37.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays lifted their target price on Nasdaq from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.15.

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.