FourThought Financial Partners LLC Buys 39,832 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Key Points

• FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 43.9%, acquiring an additional 39,832 shares, bringing their total to 130,567 shares valued at $9,905,000.
• Several hedge funds have boosted their holdings in Nasdaq with over 72% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have generally given Nasdaq a positive outlook, with multiple firms raising their price targets and maintaining buy ratings, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 43.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 130,567 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 39,832 shares during the period. Nasdaq makes up approximately 1.0% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. FourThought Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $9,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 43,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,274,000 after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 61.1% in the 1st quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 17,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 6,764 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,268,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $172,098,000 after purchasing an additional 27,622 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 4th quarter valued at $48,749,000. Finally, FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co bought a new stake in Nasdaq in the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In related news, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.17, for a total transaction of $187,702.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 94,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,440,475.52. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total transaction of $1,022,715.96. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,613 shares of company stock worth $1,874,659. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NDAQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $101.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nasdaq from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.63.

Nasdaq Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Nasdaq stock opened at $94.84 on Friday. The stock 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 quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.60. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.33 and a 12-month high of $95.49.

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

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 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.

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