Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 32.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 544,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 260,347 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $42,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Founders Capital Management bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Nasdaq by 106.6% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NDAQ shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Nasdaq from $78.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.88.

Nasdaq Stock Up 0.3 %

NDAQ stock opened at $77.67 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.54. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.10 and a 52-week high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.56, for a total value of $285,460.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,532,778.56. This represents a 5.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. The trade was a 20.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.