Two Sigma Advisers LP Reduces Holdings in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

Two Sigma Advisers LP reduced its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,326,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 389,300 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.40% of Nasdaq worth $179,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nasdaq during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nasdaq by 106.6% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 436 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Nasdaq during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 72.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sarah Youngwood sold 14,959 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.68, for a total transaction of $1,102,179.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,694 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,253.92. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan Everard Smith sold 657 shares of Nasdaq stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,450,783.80. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NDAQ. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Nasdaq in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Nasdaq from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Nasdaq from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Nasdaq Trading Up 0.7%

Nasdaq stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $81.21. 2,655,617 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,918,982. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $75.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.28 and a 52-week high of $84.15.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Nasdaq had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 14.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is an increase from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.09%.

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.