Bridgefront Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $661,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth $424,285,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Nasdaq by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $464,676,000 after buying an additional 1,650,201 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth about $110,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at about $105,481,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $802,401,000 after buying an additional 1,225,672 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Nasdaq

In other news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Nasdaq Price Performance

NDAQ stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.20. 3,913,939 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,823,845. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.70. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.28 and a 52 week high of $84.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is an increase from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq's payout ratio is currently 49.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Atlantic raised Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.50.

About Nasdaq

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.