Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 66.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,911 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 198,679 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $7,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NDAQ has been the subject of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $85.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,149,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,978,758. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.14 billion, a PE ratio of 44.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.28 and a twelve month high of $87.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.72 and a 200 day moving average of $78.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.09%.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $664,240.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 211,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,552,957.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,616 shares of company stock worth $1,813,598 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.