Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New $543,000 Investment in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 6,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NDAQ. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Nasdaq by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 34,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,652,000 after buying an additional 10,110 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 22.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 14,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 345.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 6,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective (up previously from $114.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $116.00 price target on Nasdaq and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Nasdaq to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.13.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, EVP John Zecca sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.01, for a total value of $450,045.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 125,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,568,656.74. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 300,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.39, for a total value of $28,917,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,924,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $185,541,400.17. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 604,500 shares of company stock worth $58,440,045 over the last three months. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $81.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $64.84 and a one year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.77% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.95%.

Nasdaq Company Profile

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.