Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Holdings Boosted by CW Advisors LLC

Key Points

• CW Advisors LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 183.9%, acquiring an additional 13,727 shares for a total of 21,191 shares worth approximately $1.6 million.
• A number of hedge funds have made significant changes to their positions in Nasdaq, with 72.47% of the stock currently owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have raised target prices for Nasdaq shares, with Barclays setting a new target of $109.00 and UBS upgrading their rating from "neutral" to "buy".

CW Advisors LLC increased its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 183.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,191 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 13,727 shares during the quarter. CW Advisors LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Nasdaq by 194.6% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Nasdaq by 1,509.5% in the first quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 338 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:NDAQ traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,966,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,729,342. The company has a market capitalization of $54.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $97.63. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $92.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total value of $1,022,715.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 111,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,867,680.45. This trade represents a 9.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total transaction of $201,006.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,551 shares in the company, valued at $8,837,694.99. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 24,409 shares of company stock worth $2,223,599. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on NDAQ. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group upgraded Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $101.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.06.

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.