Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,161 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $3,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 61.1% during the first quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 17,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 6,764 shares during the last quarter. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd bought a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $274,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Nasdaq by 892.3% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 60,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,689,000 after acquiring an additional 54,535 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,749,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nasdaq by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,998,019 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $309,087,000 after acquiring an additional 235,748 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

In other news, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $664,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 211,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,552,957.15. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at $4,450,783.80. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ opened at $88.12 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.84. The stock has a market cap of $50.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.05, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.44 and a 12 month high of $88.44.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 15.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is a boost from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq's payout ratio is 49.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NDAQ. UBS Group reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer set a $96.00 target price on Nasdaq and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.19.

Nasdaq 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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