Bellwether Advisors LLC Takes Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 2.3% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq by 3.4% in the second quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc grew its position in Nasdaq by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (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, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.80.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $87.42 on Wednesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.84 and a 1 year high of $101.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $92.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares in the company, valued at $12,568,656.74. This trade represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.91, for a total transaction of $29,073,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $186,542,349.73. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 604,500 shares of company stock valued at $58,440,045 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.