Sfmg LLC Acquires Shares of 2,841 Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Sfmg LLC bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 163.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,833,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,835,235,000 after purchasing an additional 24,084,154 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 11.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,951,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,310,653,000 after buying an additional 1,811,616 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,761,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,181,000 after buying an additional 932,665 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 8,596,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,596,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nasdaq by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,767,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,270,000 after acquiring an additional 94,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

NDAQ opened at $80.87 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.03 and a 52-week high of $83.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.48 billion, a PE ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.97.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 13.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.71, for a total transaction of $454,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 215,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,320,274.73. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.92, for a total transaction of $935,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 114,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,928,073.60. This trade represents a 9.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,459 shares of company stock valued at $3,811,808. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NDAQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Argus boosted their target price on Nasdaq from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James raised Nasdaq from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.53.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. It operates in three segments: Capital Access Platforms, Financial Technology, and Market Services. The Capital Access Platforms segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; and develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indices and financial products.