Wealthfront Advisers LLC Takes $3.08 Million Position in Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 39,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,081,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,916,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,819,727,000 after acquiring an additional 268,481 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the second quarter worth $2,931,637,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,878,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,930,808,000 after acquiring an additional 259,408 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,851,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,243,807,000 after acquiring an additional 378,577 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Nasdaq by 62.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,266,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $900,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,567,843 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Loop Capital set a $113.00 price objective on Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Nasdaq from $92.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Nasdaq from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $110.00 price target on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $110.30.

Nasdaq Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $97.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $76.55 and a twelve month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 22.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nasdaq news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total transaction of $1,060,813.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 205,001 shares in the company, valued at $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ab Investor purchased 56,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $85.98 per share, with a total value of $4,882,116.36. Following the purchase, the insider owned 58,439,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,024,603,103.84. The trade was a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,797 shares of company stock worth $3,926,319. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

About Nasdaq

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.