Nasdaq, Inc. $NDAQ Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Nasdaq, Inc. by 7.1% during the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 135,667 shares worth approximately $10.3 million.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" on Nasdaq, with a price target range, the highest being $109.00 from Barclays.
• Nasdaq reported a quarterly earnings of $0.85 per share, beating estimates and demonstrating a 12.7% revenue increase from the previous year.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,667 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,329 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Nasdaq were worth $10,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,979,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,019,037,000 after purchasing an additional 403,248 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,433,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,550,115,000 after purchasing an additional 993,553 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,005,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $464,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,201 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,785,047 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $438,854,000 after purchasing an additional 484,750 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nasdaq by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,494,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $416,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592,057 shares during the period. 72.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NDAQ shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $97.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Nasdaq from $103.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Nasdaq in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Nasdaq from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.06.

Nasdaq Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ NDAQ traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $94.74. 1,742,320 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,538,743. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.84 and a 1-year high of $97.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $54.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.02.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.07. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 18.59%.The firm 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. Nasdaq's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Nasdaq Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nasdaq

In other Nasdaq news, EVP Bradley J. Peterson sold 11,508 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 111,035 shares in the company, valued at $9,867,680.45. This trade represents a 9.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeremy Skule sold 2,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.49, for a total value of $201,006.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 92,551 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,837,694.99. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,409 shares of company stock worth $2,223,599 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.