Nasdaq, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 11th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th.

Nasdaq has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Nasdaq has a dividend payout ratio of 31.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Nasdaq to earn $3.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.0%.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $72.08 on Thursday. Nasdaq has a 52-week low of $46.88 and a 52-week high of $74.17. The stock has a market cap of $41.46 billion, a PE ratio of 37.94, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.77.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Nasdaq had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 15.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Nasdaq will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Nasdaq from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Seller Lp Argus sold 42,804,207 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total transaction of $2,764,295,688.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,804,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,295,688.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.70% of the stock is currently 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.