Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 29,000 Shares of Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 4.0%, selling 29,000 shares and owning approximately 0.12% of the company, valued at $52,164,000.
• Nasdaq announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share payable on September 26th, representing an annualized dividend of $1.08 and a yield of 1.2%.
• For the latest quarter, Nasdaq reported an EPS of $0.85, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $1.31 billion, up 12.7% year-over-year.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 687,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 29,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.12% of Nasdaq worth $52,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq in the first quarter valued at approximately $241,614,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 40.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,494,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $416,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,057 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 7,367.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,129,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,205 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 5.1% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,550,115,000 after purchasing an additional 993,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Nasdaq by 104.5% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,655,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $125,574,000 after purchasing an additional 845,725 shares in the last quarter. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nasdaq Stock Up 1.6%

NDAQ stock traded up $1.51 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $94.99. 3,739,486 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,254,622. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.84 and a 12-month high of $97.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The business's revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is 41.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.87, for a total transaction of $1,022,715.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 111,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,867,680.45. This trade represents a 9.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michelle Lynn Daly sold 8,691 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.45, for a total value of $812,173.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,742.55. The trade was a 49.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,409 shares of company stock worth $2,223,599 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NDAQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $101.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $97.06.

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.