iSAM Funds UK Ltd Purchases Shares of 5,500 Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 1.8% in the first quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nasdaq by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Nasdaq by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 2,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on NDAQ shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $111.00 price objective (up from $108.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised Nasdaq from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $113.00 price target (up from $111.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.30.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ opened at $98.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $92.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $76.55 and a 12-month high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.09. Nasdaq had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 18.38%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 13,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $1,203,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 128,293 shares in the company, valued at $11,881,214.73. The trade was a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nelson Griggs sold 11,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.35, for a total value of $1,060,813.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 205,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,751,846.35. This trade represents a 5.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 41,797 shares of company stock valued at $3,926,319 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Nasdaq 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.