USA Financial Formulas Boosts Stake in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ)

USA Financial Formulas lifted its position in Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Free Report) by 61.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,842 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,764 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas' holdings in Nasdaq were worth $1,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Nasdaq Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NDAQ traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $86.91. The company had a trading volume of 965,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,962,818. Nasdaq, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.28 and a 12-month high of $87.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.57. The company has a market cap of $49.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.27, a PEG 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 (NASDAQ:NDAQ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Nasdaq had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 15.10%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nasdaq, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nasdaq Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Nasdaq's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Nasdaq's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NDAQ shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Nasdaq from $84.00 to $75.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Nasdaq from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Nasdaq from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Nasdaq from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $74.00 price objective on the stock. in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nasdaq presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Insider Transactions at Nasdaq

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 the business's 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,616 shares of company stock valued at $1,813,598 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

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.