Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,400,678 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 34.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,722,926 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,400,678 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.47% of Nasdaq worth $206,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NDAQ. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 7.1% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,829 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 194.6% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Capital Corp MA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 1.4% during the first quarter. Compass Capital Corp MA ADV now owns 15,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 111,035 shares in the company, valued at $9,867,680.45. This 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 available at this link. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total value of $664,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 211,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,552,957.15. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,613 shares of company stock worth $1,874,659. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.63.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NDAQ stock traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $94.84. The company had a trading volume of 5,276,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,497. The company has a market capitalization of $54.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.96. Nasdaq, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.33 and a twelve month high of $95.49. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $86.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.60.

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

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is 49.09%.

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.