Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Sold by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lowered its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,318 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $2,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 428,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,828,000 after purchasing an additional 140,286 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 446,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,715,000 after acquiring an additional 43,910 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its position in Nasdaq by 6.9% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 53,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,455 shares during the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 365,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,250,000 after buying an additional 83,227 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,326,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,396,000 after acquiring an additional 40,215 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,341,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,383,809,610. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.91, for a total transaction of $465,534.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,672 shares in the company, valued at $3,879,785.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Dubai Ltd Borse sold 31,000,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $1,798,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,341,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,809,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on NDAQ shares. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Edward Jones assumed coverage on Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Nasdaq from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $59.00 to $80.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.09.

Nasdaq Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:NDAQ traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $60.29. The stock had a trading volume of 7,738,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,160,903. The company has a market capitalization of $34.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.74 and a 200 day moving average of $56.36. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $46.88 and a one year high of $64.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. Nasdaq had a net margin of 17.48% and a return on equity of 19.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Nasdaq’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.71%.

Nasdaq 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.