AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 165,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 24,096 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $12,804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Nasdaq by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,524,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $111,325,000 after acquiring an additional 500,418 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the third quarter valued at about $209,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the third quarter valued at about $651,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 8.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 90,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,618,000 after purchasing an additional 6,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 1,022.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 409,906 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,743,000 after buying an additional 373,376 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.0 %

NDAQ stock opened at $78.19 on Tuesday. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.28 and a 52-week high of $84.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $44.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.72, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $74.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.63.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. Nasdaq's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. This is an increase from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NDAQ shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05 % 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, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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