Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 26,033 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 550.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,033 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Nasdaq were worth $2,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDAQ. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Nasdaq in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $47,179.17. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,980 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,450,783.80. This represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Pc Nelson Griggs sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $17,552,957.15. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,616 shares of company stock valued at $1,813,598 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ NDAQ traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.30. The company had a trading volume of 4,803,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,940,016. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm's 50 day moving average is $76.38 and its 200-day moving average is $78.28. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.28 and a 1-year high of $84.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. Nasdaq's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq's payout ratio is presently 49.09%.

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.