Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Sets New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $70.02 and last traded at $69.98, with a volume of 112613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.83.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NDAQ. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Nasdaq from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $64.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.54.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $63.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.32 billion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares in the company, valued at $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in Nasdaq by 94.8% during the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Nasdaq by 89.3% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 164.4% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Nasdaq in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.