Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Sells 16,478 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Flagship Harbor Advisors cut its stake in Nasdaq (NDAQ) by 96.7% in Q4, selling 16,478 shares and leaving 558 shares valued at about $54,000.
• CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares on April 1 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan at an average $85.44 (~$9.7M); insiders have sold 506,451 shares (~$47.1M) in the past three months and now own 0.70% of the stock.
• Nasdaq beat Q4 estimates with $0.96 EPS and $2.12B revenue (up 13.4% YoY), pays a quarterly dividend of $0.27 (1.3% yield), and has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $105.08.

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 96.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 558 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,478 shares during the quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $54,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Front Row Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 318 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Nasdaq during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In related news, CEO Adena T. Friedman sold 113,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $9,706,923.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,965,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $167,953,765.44. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 506,451 shares of company stock worth $47,142,951. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NDAQ stock opened at $86.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $48.97 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.91 and a 200-day moving average of $89.63. Nasdaq, Inc. has a one year low of $69.88 and a one year high of $101.79.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.04. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 16.90% and a net margin of 21.77%.The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Nasdaq's revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on NDAQ. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Nasdaq from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised Nasdaq from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.08.

Nasdaq Company Profile

Nasdaq, Inc is a global financial technology company that operates one of the world's leading electronic securities exchanges and provides a broad array of products and services to capital markets participants. Its core activities include operating the Nasdaq Stock Market and other trading venues, developing and supplying market technology and matching engines to exchanges and trading firms, licensing market data and indices, and offering clearing, trade execution and post-trade solutions. The company also provides market surveillance, risk management and regulatory technology used by exchanges and regulators.

Founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) as the first electronic stock market, Nasdaq has evolved into a diversified marketplace and technology provider.

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