iSAM Funds UK Ltd Invests $689,000 in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 8,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $689,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NDAQ. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $424,285,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $464,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,201 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $110,867,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $105,481,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Nasdaq by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,379,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $802,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,672 shares during the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $81.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.28 and a 1-year high of $84.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is 49.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $47,179.17. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total value of $1,102,179.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NDAQ. Morgan Stanley downgraded Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $86.50.

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.

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